


Two Alphas

by mtothedestiel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adoption, Alpha Benny, Alpha Dean, Alpha/Alpha, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Bottom Benny, Bottom Dean, Dean Feels, Dirty Talk, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, EMT Dean, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everybody Lives, Fluff, Implied Mpreg, Knotting, M/M, Marriage, Mating, Oral Sex, Panty Kink, Restaurant Owner Benny, Rimming, Scenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-13
Updated: 2015-09-18
Packaged: 2018-03-12 06:46:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 37,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3347477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mtothedestiel/pseuds/mtothedestiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or: Two Alphas, disgustingly in love, seek total domestic bliss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my fic! A few notes:  
> -There are only Alphas and Omegas in this ‘verse, no betas  
> -Society’s entire concept of commitment revolves around mating. Mated=married  
> -Society’s idea of “queer” is any relationship that can’t biologically produce children. Alpha/Alpha or Omega/Omega matings are technically legal, but still face many forms of major and minor discrimination, much like non-heterosexual relationships in the real world. Mated Alphas do enjoy a certain level of privilege in that prejudices against them rarely manifest violently, as opposed to more vulnerable mated Omegas  
> -Mpreg is not a major part of this story, but it is commonplace within the 'verse and will probably be mentioned from time to time
> 
> If you have any specific questions or concerns, feel free to shoot me a message! Enjoy!

“ _Mon cher_ , these heirlooms look nice.”

Dean pauses in his perusal of the Vidalia onions to join his alpha mate at the admittedly hale display of tomatoes.  Benny has a good bunch by the stem already, holding up the plump fruit for Dean to examine. 

“They look tasty,” Dean admits, admiring the rich gold, plum, and bronze colors that make heirloom tomatoes distinct from the more garden variety, “You think you can do something special with ‘em?”

“They’re plenty special already,” Benny chides him, setting the tomatoes gently into a produce bag, “We’ll slice ‘em up, add a little salt and pepper.  Maybe some nice olive oil. There’s no better salad to be had.”

“You’re the chef,” Dean acquiesces.  When his mate gets that epicurean glint in his eye Dean knows to just go with Benny’s instincts.  His taste buds hadn’t suffered for it yet.  

Dean adds Benny’s produce selections to the cart as they check off their grocery list one item at a time.  Dean is the list master, keeping them focused and on budget, while Benny uses his restaurant skills to choose what looks freshest.  They’re an efficient team, but there’s always a moment to spare for Benny to show Dean how to pick out the best head of garlic, or which cut of meat will make a good roast. 

It makes Dean grin to watch his handsome mate haggle with the butcher.  Despite his genteel southern manners Benny is all Alpha as he watches the disinterested teen behind the counter package up their skirt steak and pork chops, cornflower blue eyes steely.  Dean rests his hand between Benny’s shoulder blades, tilting his head to scent the collar of his jacket when he’s reasonably sure no one’s looking.  Benny holds his assertive posture, but the glance he spares Dean is tender, filling Dean’s belly with warmth. 

The white paper packages join the produce in their cart and they’re off to the coffee aisle.  This is Dean’s area of expertise, since he drinks about six cups a day keeping an EMT’s schedule.  Even now his pager is on his belt, the outdated piece of technology ready to call him into a relief shift at a moment’s notice.  Dean and Benny have learned to live with the erratic hours, taking the curse of an ever changing schedule along with the blessings of excellent health insurance and Dean’s refined coffee palate.  Benny insists Dean smells like coffee, blending in with the apple wood smoke and leather that make up his distinct set of pheromones.  Dean figures his mate would know better than anyone.

Dean picks out his caffeinated favorites, starting with a sunny breakfast blend, a nice hazelnut for afternoons at home, and a dark roast for long nights.  The stamped foil bags sit pretty next to their wrapped meats and bright vegetables.  Benny tosses in a half pound of Jamaican Me Crazy, and Dean rolls his eyes.

“I guess there’s no accounting for taste,” he deadpans, and Benny chuckles as they move on.

A pound of butter, a dozen eggs, a loaf of whole grain bread, and two flavors of Coffee Mate later, they’re finally ready for the checkout line.  It’s busy for a Tuesday, and the lines are all three carts deep.  Dean’s considering which register to aim for when Benny examines the contents of their cart and curses softly in French. 

“I forgot chicken,” Benny grumbles, “To go with the tomatoes for dinner.”

“Run and get it now,” Dean suggests, “We’re gonna be waiting anyway.”

“Smart, _cher_ ,” Benny says, dropping a kiss on Dean’s temple, “Be back in a jiffy.”

Dean watches Benny’s retreating back with a dreamy grin, before turning back to the crowded front end in time to catch the stare of a curious pup seated in a cart in the nearest checkout line.  She’s a sweet little thing, definitely not more than two, with big brown eyes and a bright yellow sunflower jumper.  Dean gives a little wave and she jumps, suddenly shy.  Dean crosses his eyes, giving her his best funny face, and the peal of laughter she releases makes his heart squeeze tight. 

Someone clears their throat, and it’s Dean’s turn to jump as he realizes the pup’s mother is watching him make faces at her daughter.  She’s a nice looking Omega, but Dean can tell she’s ready to make a scene if she thinks he’s a danger to her pup.

“Sorry,” Dean says, flush rising to his cheeks.  He raises his open hands, arranging himself as non-aggressively as possible.  He probably looked like a creep, a big Alpha in a leather jacket making faces at a pup in the middle of a grocery store.  “She was kind of saying hi, and I, uh…”

The mother’s suspicious expression softens, and she looks to her pup with a wry smile. 

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” she admits, “Connie’s been ‘making friends’ in the store all day.”

“It’s hard not to smile at her,” Dean agrees, “She’s gorgeous.”

“Thanks.” Connie’s mother beams.  “She’ll be two next month.  They grow up so fast.”

“Yeah.”

Little Connie is toying with her mother’s fingers, smiling bashfully at Dean.    

“Do you have pups of your own?”

“Me?  No,” Dean shakes his head, “My alpha and I-I mean-“

“Oh,” the mother’s eyes widen.  She can obviously tell by Dean’s scent that he’s an Alpha too.  Dean is relieved that her expression doesn’t shift to one of disgust or derision, but somehow the pity in her eyes is almost worse.  She doesn’t mean to be cruel, and Dean tries to remember that as he smiles weakly.  Pups are important to a lot of people.  And whatever garbage the right-wing politicos throw around about Alpha couples on Capitol Hill, there’s one thing they’re not wrong about: two Alphas can’t make a pup.

Dean spots Benny coming towards them with a pack of chicken breasts and he breathes a sigh of relief. 

“There’s my mate now,” Dean excuses himself, pointing his cart to a shorter line nearby, “And it looks like he found an express lane that’s open.  Nice talking to you.  ‘Bye, Connie.”

Connie’s fading baby babble follows him until he finds his mate.  Dean relinquishes his hold on the cart for a minute in favor of burying his face into Benny’s shoulder.  Benny takes the affection in stride, wrapping an arm around Dean’s thick waist as he drops the chicken into the cart. 

“What’d I miss?” Benny asks lightly.

“Nothin’,” Dean says, taking one more reassuring sniff of Benny’s musk before straightening up, “Made faces at a pup.  She was real cute.”

“I see,” Benny drawls, eyes holding more awareness then his casual response, “Let’s go home and make some dinner.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Dean agrees.

 

* * *

 

Once the groceries are sorted Dean quarters tomatoes while Benny grills off their chicken with lemon and rosemary.  It fills the kitchen with a bright citrus-herb smell that makes Dean’s mouth water. 

This kitchen had been Dean’s gift to Benny on their second mating anniversary, once he’d gotten his paramedic certification along with a nice pay raise.  Their house is a modest one level ranch with an unfinished basement and dated bathroom tile, but the kitchen is a chef’s dream, with granite countertops and a massive island with a gas range for all of Benny’s recipe testing and family cooking.  Benny loves to cook, and Dean loves to eat, so it’s their favorite room in the house by far.

Their dinner preparations are interrupted by Dean’s cell phone buzzing on the aforementioned countertop.  Dean grins when he spies the caller id. 

“Hey, Sammy,” he chimes, answering the call, “How’s my second favorite Alpha?”

“Gross, Dean,” is his brother’s greeting, “Are you busy?”

“Me and Benny are rustling up some grub, but I’ve got a minute,” Dean says, “How’s my sister-in-law?”

“She’s good,” Sam answers, “Trying to get Henry into bed.  We’ve had a rambunctious day.”

“Trust me, whatever your little guys manages to get up to, you were worse,” Dean promises with a laugh.  Benny chuckles, tipping an imaginary hat towards the phone.

“Benny says hi, by the way,” Dean continues, “So what’s up?”

“I was wondering if you and Benny could take Henry for a few days, maybe next week?” Sam asks, hesitant.

“Goin’ on vacation, little brother?” Dean asks, “You can tell me.”

“In a manner of speaking,” Sam says, then quieter, “Jess is gonna have a Heat soon.”

“Wow, really?”

“Yeah,” Sam explains, “Her sups are running out and we did some talking, and I guess she’s not gonna refill her prescription.  So it’s back to ‘Mother Nature’s tri-annual gift’, as Jess calls it.”

“Huh,” Dean laughs, shrugging at Benny’s raised eyebrows across the kitchen island, “Sounds like fun.  Are you guys trying for another pup?”

“Uh, maybe?” Sam ventures, “More like, ‘if it happens we’ll be thrilled, but we’re in no rush’, I guess.”

“Alright Sammy, sounds like a plan,” Dean agrees, pinning the phone to his shoulder so he can continue quartering tomatoes, “You know we love hanging out with Henry.  He might have to hunker down with Benny at the restaurant for a shift or two, but we’ll make it work.  Just give us a ring when you pin down a date.”

“Thanks Dean.  Hey, did you guys hear back from that new agency yet?”

Dean eyes the corner of the hastily opened rejection letter peeking out of their recycle bin.

“Nope,” he says, plastering on some fake cheerfulness, “Nothing yet.  You know how those bureaucrats work.  Slow as fuck.”

Benny gives him an unimpressed look from behind their stovetop grill. 

“Any day now, I’m sure,” Sam replies, “I’ve got a good feeling about this one, Dean.  You and Benny are gonna make great parents.”

“I hope so,” Dean muses absently, “Anyways, me and Benny are making dinner, but you can count on us for next week.”

A few pleasantries later Dean hangs up, sliding the last of the tomatoes off his cutting board into the chipped porcelain bowl waiting nearby.  He delivers the fruits of his labor to Benny, wrapping his arms around his mate’s broad chest. 

“You’re only delayin’ the inevitable, sugar,” Benny rumbles, nodding towards the latest adoption agency’s rejection.

“I know,” Dean murmurs, tucking his chin over Benny’s shoulder, “It just hurts, you know?”

“I know, darlin’,” Benny sighs, plating up their tasty looking chicken, “But when it’s meant to be, we’ll get our pup.”

Dean noses into the crook of Benny’s neck, where the raised scar of their mating mark peeks out of the collar of his Henley.  The faint scent of their combined pheromones is soothing.  Benny hums contentedly, seasoning the tomato salad and cleaning their grill pan.  After a minute Dean’s stomach rumbles, loud in the quiet kitchen, and both mates laugh.

“C’mon.”  Benny picks up their plates while Dean grabs two beers.  “Couch or porch?”

“Porch,” Dean decides, using his sock foot to nudge open the sliding glass door leading out onto their screened in back porch.  It’s getting closer to May than April, warm enough to for Dean to leave his flannel inside and eat in short sleeves.  The sun is just starting to set, filling the space with warm evening light while the screening keeps out the bugs and the worst of the night breezes.  Dean puts their drinks down on the low wicker table and turns on a few lights before settling into one half of the brightly upholstered wicker sofa.  Benny joins him with their full plates and some silverware.  The natural light fades as they enjoy their dinner, plates on their laps and feet propped up on the table.

“These are good,” Benny decides after a few minutes, eyeing a dark purple slice of tomato on his fork, “I might have Elizabeth go back and get the rest.  Put it on the menu for a few days.”

“You could do a…” Dean waves his fork, trying to remember the words, “What’s that Italian thing you told me about?  Caprese _._ ”

“Mm…yes,” Benny agrees, eyes going dreamy in the way that means he’s thinking about his restaurant, “Heirloom Tomato Salad and Rainbow Caprese.”  Benny whips out his phone, no doubt texting Elizabeth the fresh menu plan for the week already. 

Elizabeth is Benny’s niece, a spitfire Omega with culinary aspirations just like her uncle.  She surprised her Louisiana family by passing up college after high school in favor of moving to Kansas to be a sous chef in Benny’s restaurant, _Baton Rouge_.  Elizabeth does her share of grunt work, and Benny pays her a little extra to help her save up for culinary school.  In the meantime she and Benny are always experimenting with new recipes and techniques, which has only cemented _Baton Rouge’s_ reputation as the Midwest’s only source for fresh and exciting Louisiana cuisine.  Dean loves Elizabeth like a little sister, and he loves how happy she makes Benny, who Dean knows secretly misses his large Southern family more than he lets on.

“This girl,” Benny murmurs fondly after a minute of texting.

“What’s Liz have to say?” Dean asks around a big bite of chicken.

“She wants to make the mozzarella fresh,” Benny chuckles, “Says she found a good video tutorial.”

“Looks like you’re in for a busy day tomorrow,” Dean agrees.  The restaurant was closed today, Benny’s one day off a week, so tomorrow the dinner service would no doubt be packed with customers.  Add that to house made cheese experiments and Dean knows Benny’s gonna need a coffee refill before the day is out.

“Between you and her I’m always on my toes,” Benny teases, giving Dean a lemony kiss, “You could wear an Alpha out, you know?”

“I didn’t realize I mated an old man,” Dean shoots back with a grin, feeding Benny a piece of chicken off his fork.

“You knew what you were getting into,” Benny says, “Just like I knew I was mating a pretty young thing that was gonna give me grey hair.”

“Since our age difference is so radical,” Dean deadpans to his thirty-five year old mate, “I am legal, you know.”

“Of course,” Benny ribs, depositing his empty plate on the table, “As if I could forget your thirtieth.  I still wake up with a knot over that night now and then.”

Dean hums around his last bite of tomato salad.  “That was a great night.  I still wear those panties sometimes.  They fit real nice under my uniform.”

Benny doesn’t hide his groan.

“You like that?” Dean asks, leaving his plate on the table so he can lean to murmur in Benny’s ear, one hand settling on his mate’s knee, “Me giving people oxygen and splinting broken bones , all with that pink lace underwear you bought me under my cargo pants.”

“Those pants are a sin on their own, _cher_.”  Benny’s blue eyes are darkening with arousal, his lavender-bourbon scent getting stronger as Dean’s hand slips a little further toward his crotch.   

“Like you’re any better in your chef whites,” Dean teases, “Looking at me all sexy while you drizzle sauces on things like it’s not taking me apart.”

“Get over here, Alpha,” Benny orders, patting his thigh.

“Oh, so I’m the Alpha now?” Dean asks, climbing into Benny’s lap, “I thought I was the pretty young thing.”  Benny drags his rough hands up Dean’s sides, slipping under his shirt to cradle his ribcage.

“We’ll see.” Benny growls, nipping at Dean’s mating mark playfully.  Dean yelps and shivers, arousal already stirring his cock against Benny’s belly.  He tugs Benny’s mouth from his neck for a sizzling kiss, a possessive rumble in his chest.  They exchange warm and wet kisses, enjoying the privacy of their back yard after a long day of more subtle affection out in public.  Dean loves Benny’s big hands holding him tight, and it satisfies his Alpha instincts to pin Benny under his weight.

Dean rolls his hips down and groans when he feels Benny’s hardening dick rub against his own through their pants.

“We should probably take this indoors,” Benny suggests, hands sliding down to grab Dean’s ass over his jeans, “Our bedroom, preferably.”

“I’d have to agree,” Dean says, nuzzling against Benny’s beard.  It leaves his lips and cheek tingling.  “I’ll get the dishes if you hit the lights.”

Their dinner plates get dropped in the sink and the back door latched in record time and soon Benny is chasing Dean down the short hallway to their master bedroom, with convenient pauses to grind and kiss against any available flat surface.  Dean doesn’t subscribe to designation stereotypes, but he can’t deny that he and Benny spend a lot of their private sexy time growling and trying to wrestle each other into submission.  It makes him hot, getting tackled onto their mattress because Benny can’t wait one more minute to get his hands on Dean’s bare skin. 

Dean’s still catching his breath as Benny strips him out of his shirt.  Dean wraps his arms around Benny; fingers grabbing eagerly at his mate’s muscled back as Benny drags his mouth down Dean’s neck to his chest.  Dean grinds against Benny’s hip as Benny gives Dean’s most sensitive areas his undivided attention, biting his nipple sharply only to soothe it with his tongue.

Dean whines, tugging on Benny’s Henley. 

“Get this off,” Dean grunts, “All of it.”

Benny nips at Dean’s chest one more time before straightening up to obey.

It takes a little wrestling to get them up to the head of the mattress where they belong.  Benny tugs off their pants while Dean rummages through the bedside drawer until his fingers close around the bottle of synthetic slick.

“My turn,” Dean pants, wiggling his hips invitingly.  Benny settles between his bare thighs, stealing the slick from Dean’s fingers as he pins him with a deep kiss.  They rut mindlessly for a few moments, satisfied with the hot slide of their dicks together without any fabric in the way.  Dean gets impatient at the same time he starts to run out of air, and he breaks the kiss with a gasp.  He reaches between them to wrap his fingers around Benny’s erection, biting his lip.  Dean slicks his grip with the pre-come already beading at the tip, giving his mate a few enticing tugs.  Benny is hot and hard, and Dean needs that inside him pronto. 

“This is gonna be over too soon if you don’t cut that out,” Benny threatens, knocking Dean’s hand away. 

“Then get a move on,” Dean urges, squirming under Benny’s weight until he can roll over onto his belly, “This ass isn’t gonna knot itself.”

“It certainly isn’t.” Benny gives an appreciative whistle, grabbing Dean’s butt cheeks with an audible smack.

“You like it?” Dean asks, nudging the lube in Benny’s hand with his heel, “Show me.”

Dean rest his head on his forearms, shivering as Benny parts his cheeks to expose his hole.  He lets out a surprised moan when instead of lubed fingers probing his entrance he feels the warm, wet pressure of Benny’s tongue.

“Shit, Benny,” Dean mutters, voice muffled into his pillow.  Benny’s only response is a hum that sends an electric tingle up Dean’s spine.  Benny drags the flat of his tongue across Dean’s hole, getting him wet and ready for his fingers.  Dean growls his pleasure, whining when Benny’s bristly scruff leaves his skin pink and sensitive. 

Benny darts his tongue past Dean’s rim one more time before soothing his beard burn with a drizzle of lube straight from the bottle.

“You’re a monster,” Dean says, shuddering at the relief and shock of the cold slick.  Benny sucks a hickey onto Dean’s right ass cheek, not sorry at all as he teases against Dean’s wet hole with the pad of his index finger. 

It takes several minutes for Benny to slick Dean up to his satisfaction, until Dean’s hole stretches around three of Benny’s fingers and his cock is drooling onto the bedspread.  Dean thinks he could go insane when Benny pulls his fingers out and leisurely slicks up his cock, the thick squelching of the artificial slick a taunting preview of what’s coming.

“So gorgeous, darlin’,” Benny breathes.  He tugs Dean up to his knees with an arm around his middle, grinding his slick cock against Dean’s rear.   

“C’mon Alpha,” Dean demands, tired of teasing, “Give it to me.”

Dean braces his himself on their solid oak headboard as Benny finally lines himself up and pushes in.  It takes his breath away every time, pain turning into pleasure with Benny a solid line of heat against his back.  Benny takes his time, stretching Dean open around his cock, until he eventually bottoms out with a groan. 

“Mate,” Benny grunts, scenting Dean’s neck as he starts grinding his hips in shallow fucks.

“Mate,” Dean agrees, panting.  He’s so _full_.  It blows his mind that an Alpha could feasibly go their whole life without bottoming.  It almost makes Dean feel bad, all those knot heads missing out on getting drilled into catatonic bliss by a nice thick cock.

Between pheromones and plain exertion the air is starting to thicken with their combined scent.  It fills Dean’s senses in a pleasurable haze, adding to the momentum of Benny’s thrusts inside him. 

“ _Benny_ ,” Dean moans, pushing back against his mate, “Fuck _.”_   His voice is barely audible over the satisfying rhythmic slam of their headboard against the wall.  Benny is really pounding him, sucking a dark mark over Dean’s mating bite that makes Dean whimper and growl in equal measure.  He can feel Benny’s knot catching on his rim with each powerful thrust and it makes his own cock throb.  Dean won’t pop a full knot without a channel to stimulate it, but that doesn’t mean he won’t come, and come _hard_ , especially given how aggressively Benny’s riding him.

Benny changes his rhythm without warning, grabbing Dean by the hips and slamming him back onto his cock.  The head of Benny’s dick nails Dean’s prostate and the pleasure punches the breath out of his lungs.  Benny doesn’t let up, and soon Dean is moaning and begging, taking one hand off the headboard precariously to get a hand around his own cock.

“Fuck, fuck, _fuck_ ,” Dean curses.  A dribble of excess slick drips down his inner thigh and Dean swipes it up on his fingers before he grips his cock in a smooth slide from base to tip.  Benny fucks into him again, grinding his swelling knot against Dean’s prostate.  His sweaty forehead is pressed between Dean’s shoulder blades and Dean can feel the intimate puff of Benny’s breath on his skin.  Dean strokes himself, movements growing desperate as Benny’s knot expands, locking their bodies together deliciously. 

Benny ruts against Dean, coming inside him with a deep satisfied groan.  He snuffles into Dean’s neck, his hands finally releasing Dean’s hips in favor of reaching down to wrap one broad palm around the hand Dean has on his cock.  With Benny’s knot pressing inside him and Benny’s hand on his cock, it only takes a few strokes before Dean is coming.  He finally collapses under Benny’s weight, senses overwhelmed from the intensity of their shared climax.  Everything sharpens down to a primal point, and Dean spends the next few minutes in a haze of _mate_ and _mine_ and _Alpha._

When Dean finally comes down he’s happy, sweaty, and stuck good on Benny’s knot.

“I guess we skipped the condom,” Dean muses, still loose and fuzzy from orgasm.

“Oh fuck, _cher_ ,” Benny swears, shifting a little inside Dean, “You’re on call.  I forgot.”

Dean grinds back against Benny’s knot with a satisfied sigh.  “Worth it.  I’ll tell ‘em I got caught in traffic.”

“At…eight o’clock on a Tuesday?”

“Yup,” Dean replies stubbornly.  Benny’s soft laugh rumbles against his back, and Dean snuggles in close, content.

They kiss and doze until Benny’s knot goes down, thankfully without any interruptions from Dean’s employers.  Once they can separate Benny runs downstairs to take care of the dinner dishes while Dean showers, cleaning out his necessary areas.  He’s not usually so finicky, but Dean’s on a twelve hour shift starting at six AM tomorrow and he doesn’t need anything soaking the seat of his pants when he’s stuck at the station.  

When he emerges Benny is back in bed, a recipe book in his lap and his old man reading glasses perched on his nose.  He’s making notes, a pen tucked between his teeth as he reads.  Dean grins as he slips into some soft pajama pants.

“What?” Benny asks as Dean crawls into bed.  Dean just grins wider, pushing Benny’s glasses up where they belong before kissing his mate on the nose.

“There,” Dean says, collapsing onto his side of the mattress.  He tucks himself under their light comforter, tangling his feet with Benny’s.  Benny lets his book tip against his chest, dragging a hand through Dean’s short cropped hair. 

“You’re up early tomorrow, yeah?” Benny double checks.  Dean nods, eyes already drooping closed.  Benny’s thick fingers card through his hair a few more times, helping lull Dean into sleep despite his early bedtime.

“Goodnight, _mon coeur.”_

Dean grins into his pillow. 

“’Night Benny.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We did a day in Dean and Benny's personal lives, now here's their professional side!  
> A few vocab things:  
> EMT-b= EMT-basic. The first level of certification  
> EMT-i=EMT-intermediate. The second level  
> Paramedic=the highest level of EMT certification  
> rig= ambulance  
> bus=ambulance  
> Code 3= a life threatening call, full sirens  
> Code 2= non life threatening call, no sirens  
> POS system= Point of Sale system, the computer system used in a restaurant to record table orders and receipts
> 
> Please note that what I know about Dean's job was gleaned solely from the internet, so there may be some inaccuracies, in addition to the adjustments that come with the ABO setting. I don't think there's any distracting errors, but then again I am not an EMT. Anyways, enjoy!

_When it rains it pours_ , Dean figures to himself as he yanks on his boots and hoofs it down the short staircase between the staff room and the garage.  Nothing all morning, and now both rigs going out at once.  Dean is gonna be bus leader on the house fire call.  Code two, so nothing life-threatening, but Dean is the number one paramedic on hand for burn treatment.  This is his game. 

“Time to go, boys,” Dean calls, hefting himself up into the passenger’s seat of his assigned ambulance.  Aaron’s already in the driver’s seat.  Dean gives him a fist bump as he secures his seat belt. 

“How you doin’, Alfie?” Dean turns to their newest recruit, perched nervously on the gurney in the back.  He just nodded, looking a little green.  The kid looked about twelve, but Dean had seen his scores.  Alfie was gonna be a good crew member, despite the fact that he didn’t look old enough to vote. 

“Alright, let’s blow this popsicle-“ Aaron’s grandstanding is interrupted by their dispatcher.

“Hold up B-rig,” Victor’s voice crackles over the radio, “Code two on Madison’s got a patient in Heat.  Mated Alphas only.  Sorry, Winchester.”

Mated Alphas.  As in Alpha-Omega mated.  Aaron and Alfie are both Omegas, so that just leaves Dean on the outs.  For the third time this month.

“Fuck, man,” Aaron swears.  Dean grinds his teeth, but he’s the senior paramedic on this bus.  He’s unfortunately gotta be the professional here.

“It’s fine,” Dean tells his crew, “I’ll get somebody to fill in.”

“Oh thank god,” Aaron exhales, resting his forehead on the steering wheel.

Dean wants to slam the door as he disembarks the ambulance, but he keeps it to himself as he responds to his dispatcher on his personal radio. 

“I’m the only paramedic on that rig, Henrickson.”

“I’ve got Rufus jumping on.  He’ll keep an eye on the new guy.  Thanks for the heads up.”

There’s a burst of static, and when Victor pipes in next it’s on a private channel. 

“Sorry Dean.  You know I’d change it if I could.”

Dean sighs, watching as Rufus tosses him a salute before climbing into Dean’s seat.  “You don’t write the insurance policy, Vic.”

“If only, man.  We still on for Friday?”

“You bet.  Benny’s niece is gonna run dinner service so we’ve got all night for once.” 

“Nice.  Tell your better half if he brings me some of that french silk pie I’ll buy the first round.”

“Will do,” Dean drawls, grin fading as he cuts off the feed.  He watches the ambulance pull out of the garage before grabbing his thermos from his locker and dropping onto his bunk in the staff room.  It’s too late to go back to sleep, so Dean may as well sit up and wait for the next call.  He takes a deep whiff of his still steaming coffee and thinks about grocery shopping with his mate.  His _True_ Mate, no matter how any legal policy may define that relationship. 

Dean loves his job, and he doesn’t like to make a fuss.  He knows why the hospital has the policies it does.  There _are_ shitty Alphas in the world that would take advantage of a patient in Heat, and there are arrogant unmated Alphas that overestimate their abilities to control themselves in an environment running on adrenaline.  Unfortunately there’s nothing Dean can do to convince their ambulance contractor that an Omega in Heat smells about as good to him as burned sugar.  Once an Alpha is mated to their True Mate, their pheromones form a closed loop with their partner.

Dean and Benny are mated legally, but because of their same-designation mating they can’t get it certified as True, like an Alpha/Omega couple.  So Dean has to sit on his butt while another guy does the job he’s most qualified for.  It sucks, but Dean is the exception, not the rule, and so he tries to grin and bear it.

“Benched again?”  Jo plops down next to him on the cot.  She’s a new crew member, like Alfie, still mostly shadowing with some non-priority treatment.  She’s young, but Dean has to admit he’s taken a shine to her. 

“Yeah,” Dean grunts, “House fire with a kid in Heat.  You?”

“Two knot heads in a bar brawl,” she answers, “Alphas and mated Omegas only on the scene. ‘Lest my sweet aroma put somebody in a rut.”

“What a load,” Dean muses, “We should have just switched calls.”

“And miss out on this outcast bonding time?” Jo quips, knocking their coffees together in a mock toast, “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Dean’s phone buzzes with a message from Benny.  It’s a photo with a vintage filter, showing a long counter lined with elegant little bowls of tomato salad.  Benny’s hand is in the edge of the frame, the sleeve of his white chef jacket visible as he offers a big thumbs up.

 _It’s a real hit, cher!_ Reads the caption.  Dean smiles, sipping his coffee as Jo looks over his shoulder curiously.

“Benny’s new recipe is going over well,” he says, showing Jo the photo, “His niece has been teaching him about Instagram filters, so I’ve been getting a lot of artistic messages lately.”

“I can tell,” Jo laughs, admiring the ripple of faded color in the image, “You’ve got a sweet mate.  With killer guns, by the way.  You two must go through a lot of furniture.”

“Our bed frame is reinforced,” Dean supplies with a lewd wink, “But we’ve definitely wrecked a few coffee tables.”

“Fun.”

“Oh yeah,” Dean agrees, “So how’s your first month going?”

“A lot more waiting around than I expected,” Jo admits, “But Gabe and Kali are a great team to shadow.  I’m picking up a lot of stuff you can’t find in a textbook.”

“Yeah they’re kind of a weird couple but they get shit done,” Dean says, “And trust me, once you’ve been here for a couple of months you’ll be grateful for the waiting around time.”

“I’m cool with it now,” Jo says, “Any extra sleep at this point is a gift.”

“You’ll get used to that too.

“I know,” Jo says, “Besides, I can suck it up.  There’s no job I’d rather be doing.”

Dean toasts his coffee.

“Amen to that.”

 

* * *

 

Elizabeth lets Dean in when he knocks on the kitchen door of _Baton Rouge_ a little after six.  He’d rounded out his shift with a code two call for an elderly woman who’d taken a fall in her apartment.  The patient was shaken up but otherwise okay.  Dean felt good knowing she’d be back on her feet in a few days after some treatment for dehydration and a couple of precautionary x-rays.  It made up for the sour vibe from the morning, and Dean is able to give Elizabeth a real smile despite being worn out from his shift.

“Hey, Liz,” he greets his mate’s niece, “How’s service going?”

 “It’s been real busy,” Elizabeth says with a smile, wiping her hands on her apron, “Come on in.  I’ve gotta get back to the grill but you know where to find Benny.”

“That I do,” Dean says, leaving his bag by the walk-in before following Elizabeth into the kitchen.

Benny’s expediting, sending Kevin out to the dining room with a full order before refilling the high metal shelf for the next table.  Benny’s recipe experiments at home tend to be relaxed and a little chaotic, but his kitchen is a well oiled machine.  Dean watches for a few moments as Benny plates something with beef and okra, drizzling the whole thing in some vibrant orange sauce.  Benny radiates energy when he’s cooking, and it fills up the room.  Elizabeth is busy, cooking chicken and vegetables at the stove, but her cinnamon honey scent is calm.  It’s the middle of the dinner rush and everything is running smoothly.

Dean sneaks up to the front counter rather than cut through the kitchen, which is liable to get him smacked with a hot pan what with Benny and Liz moving quick as they do.  He waits until Benny turns his back to perch on the stainless steel, waiting patiently when Benny returns to add mushrooms to a couple of chicken entrées. 

“Hiya, babe,” Dean drawls.  In the gap between two perfectly plated dinners Benny’s face breaks into a smile. 

“Hello, handsome,” says Benny, “Fancy meeting you here.”  His blue eyes are twinkling and he’s got a flush to his cheeks from the bustling kitchen.

“Well I was passing through,” Dean says, leaning on the counter, “And somethin’ smelled _so_ good in here I just had to stop in.”

“Is that so?” 

“Mm hm,” Dean hums, leaning across the steel countertop to give his mate a kiss, “And the food smells pretty good too.”

Benny smiles against his lips.  “Real smooth.” 

“I try.”

“Table six just changed their order again, Benny, whenever you’re done being cute,” chirps a voice behind them, “Also, hi Dean.” 

“Hey kiddo,” Dean says, turning to greet Charlie, Benny’s head waitress, “I like the haircut.”

“Thanks.” Charlie grins, flipping her bright red pixie cut.  “You got your screen ready, Benny?”

Benny sighs.  “Table six has been yankin’ us around all night,” he informs Dean before turning to Charlie, “What is it this time?”

“They want the filet medium instead of medium rare,” Charlie reads off her tablet, “No mushrooms on the special and they want to know if you can cut the veal into the shape of a trout.”

“Medium filet, no mushrooms on the special,” Benny repeats back, making adjustments on his POS screen, “And I’m gonna assume that last one was a joke that I’m too old to get.”

“Roger that, boss,” Charlie says with a salute before returning to the dining room.

“Cute.  Lemme put out this fire,” Benny says to Dean, with one more quick kiss, “Then I’ll rustle you up some dinner.  Anything strike your fancy?”

“Whatever’s easy,” Dean calls after his mate’s retreating back, “You need any help?”

“We’re good, _cher_ ,” Benny says over the clanging of pans on the stove, “Just sit tight for a minute.”

Dean takes a seat out of the way, saying hi to Kevin as he darts back into the kitchen for the entrées Benny just put the final sauces on.  Kevin’s working his way to a political science degree when he’s not at the restaurant.  He’s a good kid, despite being wound a little tight.  Luckily Dean has it on authority that Charlie’s been dragging him out on the weekends to help him loosen up. 

There’s a steady flow of traffic between the kitchen and the dining room, but no chaos or confusion.  Ever since Charlie came on board she’s been bringing _Baton Rouge_ into the 21st century, one console at a time.  Her adjustments to Benny’s POS system have made dinner service smoother than ever.  Despite arriving in the middle of dinner rush, Dean has a white takeout container in his hands in fifteen minutes.

“You’re the best,” Dean says, peeking under the lid at the steaming beef filet.

“Don’t let all the warm out,” Benny warns, pushing the container closed.  Dean meets Benny at the edge of the counter to give him a real kiss goodbye, careful not to crush his dinner between their chests.

“I’ll be up when you get home,” Dean promises, flicking the brim of Benny’s cap, “Don’t work too hard.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Benny says with a grin, “Love ‘ya.”

“Love you too.”

Dean leaves _Baton Rouge_ with a warm meal and a pleasantly tingling mouth.  Not a bad day, overall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! The plot will be kicking in soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Dean rests the cold can of soda against the back of his neck, blousing out the front of his sweat soaked t-shirt.  It was getting warmer and Dean couldn’t afford to leave the yard for another day.  So after Benny left to prep for lunch service Dean dug the rake out of the garage and tackled the debris still left over from the fall.  It was going on eleven o’clock now and the front and back yard were clear of dead leaves and Benny’s vegetable garden had fresh layer of mulch.  Dean drained his soda, wiping the sweat off his forehead.  The yard was cleaned up but now it was Dean who felt like he was covered in soggy plant refuse.  He’s meeting Sam and his nephew Henry for lunch in an hour and he doesn’t want to go smelling like mildew.

Dean is fantasizing about the hot shower in store for him when his phone rings.  He doesn’t recognize the number, but it’s a local area code so he picks up.

“Hello?”

“Dean Winchester?”

“You’ve got him,” Dean says, basket shooting his soda can into the recycling, “What can I do for you?”

“This is Naomi Milton, from Growing Love adoption agency,” the woman, Naomi, answers, “I understand you wanted to speak with me?”  

Dean fumbles the phone, hands suddenly slippery with sweat.  Somehow this woman’s voice made him feel underdressed, even though he was safe in his own kitchen.

“Um yeah,” Dean stammers, quickly rifling through the recycling to grab the rejection letter he’d tossed away, “Yes.  I called last week, and let me tell you your secretary is not easy to get through-“

“We are very busy here, Mr. Winchester,” Naomi informs him, “What can I help you with?”

“Right,” Dean says, dropping onto the couch with the letter and a yellow legal pad, “Well, my mate and I recently applied to become parents through your agency and we got turned down.  The letter was kind of vague on the why, and I was hoping you could fill me in, for future reference.”

“We’re happy to offer constructive criticism to potential parents,” Naomi intones, “What was the name on the file?”

“It woulda been Winchester-Lafitte.”

Dean can hear typing through the line as the case worker pulls up him and Benny’s file.  He scribbles nervously on the corner of the legal pad.  He’s etched a row of dark lines before Naomi speaks again.

“Oh.  Well.”

“Is there a problem?” Dean inquires.  This lady’s tone just took a turn for the worse, and Dean’s got a sinking feeling in his gut.

“There weren’t any problems with your financial status or your background checks,” Naomi continued, as though Dean would find that comforting, “Though there was some pause over your work schedules.  But I’m afraid your final rejection was due to a more…fundamental issue.”

“And that issue would be…”

“We will only place a pup with parents who are True Mates,” Naomi explains, “It’s the cornerstone of our philosophy here at Growing Love.  ‘Families as they are meant to be’.”

 Dean had to run that sentence through his head a few times.  “I don’t understand,” he says at last, “I am True Mated.  We had that on our application.  I know the state doesn’t recognize it but you’re a private institution and we thought-”

“However you and your partner may _feel,_ in the case of a same-designation couple such as you and Mr. Lafitte I’m afraid we more than agree with the state,” Naomi interrupts him, “I’m sorry Mr. Winchester, but as our agency cannot verify the nature of your mating according to our moral standards we have to question the health and safety of any pup placed in your care.”

Dean blinks.  “Excuse me?”

“It’s not too late for either of you to have a biological family,” Naomi continues, steamrolling right along, “You both appear to be very stable and healthy Alphas.  If you kept yourselves open to the possibility of the True Omega Mates that are waiting for you-“

“Benny and I _are_ True Mates,” Dean growls, cutting her off, “And frankly ma’am I don’t appreciate you questioning the legitimacy of my relationship, or your implication that me or my mate would be a _danger_ to a pup.  I called here hoping to get some advice but I can see all you have to offer me is conservative bullshit.”

“Mr. Winchester-“

“We applied to your agency because we wanted to provide a pup with a loving and stable home,” Dean says, eyes burning, “That’s another little guy or girl who’s gonna go into the system because you and your bigoted policies denied them a family.  So thanks a heap.”

Dean hangs up and throws his pad across the table in disgust. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short update! the next chapter will have a sweet/steamy counterpoint to Dean's current angst.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some fluff (the smut will come next!)

“So what’s going on with the Growing Love people?” Sam asks, “Any news?”

They’re seated at a comfortable booth in a quiet corner of _Baton Rouge_.  It’s a busy day, as usual, but Charlie and Benny know Dean and Sam aren’t in any rush to get their orders.  It’s about one o’clock and they just got their food.  They’ve filled the time just fine between themselves and Sam’s four-year-old son Henry.

Dean loves his nephew, a miniature of Sam, with Jess’ blonde hair.  He’s already a curious kid, with a fascination for dinosaurs and an impressive collection of scientific picture books that Dean and Benny have been generous donors to. 

Henry’s engrossed in his macaroni and cheese, special ordered “with spots but no crumbs” to a highly amused Charlie at the beginning of their lunch.  It’s a tasty looking dish, baked under the broiler without breadcrumbs so the top layer of cheese gets goopy and just a little burned in a few spots.  In other words: four year old heaven.

Dean picks at his own lunch, grilled white fish in a spicy sauce.  It’s delicious, like all of Benny’s food, but Sam’s mention of that shitty agency has made Dean’s appetite disappear.

“Yeah,” he confesses, “We got a letter a couple of days ago.  It’s a no-go.”

“What?” Sam exclaims, “Why?”

“I guess the agency was a little more conservative than they led us to believe,” Dean tells him, “They only place pups with True Mated couples.”

Sam’s eyes narrow.  “So they ignored the note on your application,” he guesses, “Did you talk to somebody?”

“Yup,” Dean continues, “They follow the State’s guidelines and a little extra by the sound of it.  Basically they figured out we were same-designation and that was that.”

Apparently Henry was listening a little closer than they thought, because that’s when he pipes up.

“Are you and Uncle Benny not mates?” 

Dean looks to his brother on this one.  It’s not his place to explain mating to Henry, and that’s besides getting into complicated shit like civil unions and legal discrimination.

“They are,” Sam explains, to Dean’s relief, “Uncle Dean and Uncle Benny are True Mated just like me and your mom, but some people don’t believe that.  They’re wrong, but sometimes it’s a pain in your uncles’ butt.”

“Is that why they won’t let them have a pup?” Henry asks, “’Cause that’s dumb.  They should admit they’re wrong and say sorry, like we do at school.”

“That sounds like a plan, buddy,” Dean agrees, “But sometimes it takes a while for people to change their minds, especially when they’re asshats.”

“Oh,” Henry looks disconcerted.  His little brow is furrowed and he looks just like Sam.  He asks Dean, “How did you know Uncle Benny was your mate?  Did you meet him at a hospital, like how dad met mom?  He says mom smells good.  _I_ think mommy smells like Fruit Loops.” 

“He’s not wrong,” Sam admits, considering. Dean laughs.

“I didn’t meet your Uncle at a hospital,” he says, “But I’ll tell you.  Get comfortable, ‘cause it’s kind of a long story.”

Henry situates himself in the booth, taking a big bite of macaroni and cheese and listening intently.

“So your dad wanted me to try this new restaurant,” Dean begins. 

“Uncle Benny’s restaurant,” Henry guesses.

“That’s right,” Dean says.

“They have the best macaroni and cheese here,” Henry tells Dean conspiratorially, hiding his words from Sam with a little hand over his mouth, “Better than mommy’s.”

Sam’s doing his best not to laugh, pretending not to hear Henry’s stage whisper.  Dean winks at his brother before continuing.

“Wow.  So, at the time, I didn’t know that,” Dean says, “I thought the restaurant was gonna be stuffy and no fun, so I was kicking up a fuss ‘cause I didn’t want to go.  Luckily, your dad managed to convince me with his best sad puppy eyes.”

“Mommy says he’s very good at that,” Henry says uncertainly.  That makes Dean laugh as Sam’s face turns bright red.

“That he is,” Dean agrees, “So your dad and I go to this new restaurant to have lunch, and the minute I walk in the door, the only thing I can notice is how good it smells.”

“What does it smell like?” Henry asks.  He makes a big show of sniffing the air of the comfortably crowded restaurant. 

“Like the best dinner you’ve ever had at Uncle Benny’s ever, only better,” Dean says, “Like I just want to roll up in a blanket of this smell and take a nap.”

“Naps are good.”

“Naps are awesome,” Dean agrees, “Anyway, the restaurant is pretty crowded and I start looking around at everybody’s plates, because I just gotta know what smells so good so I can have it for lunch.  And everything smells freakin’ delicious, but nobody has whatever this awesome smelling food is.  Now at this point your dad thinks I’ve gone completely nuts.”

“Is that true?” Henry asks Sam.  Sam nods sagely.

“Totally bonkers,” he confirms.

“Well I was,” Dean continues, “I pretty much forgot your dad was even there, because all I cared about was figuring out what was cooking that was so damn delicious.  People were staring, and I was starting to go a little Alpha crazy.”

“Did you scare anybody?” Henry asks, shrinking a little. 

“No,” Dean says firmly, “It doesn’t matter if you’re Alpha crazy or not, it’s never okay to scare people.”

“That’s what Dad says.”  Sam ruffles his son’s hair, looking proud.  That made Dean happy.  No matter how Henry eventually presented Dean knew Sam was gonna turn a good person out into the world.

“He’s right,” Dean confirms, “Anyways, I figured the only place left where you could have something that smelled so tasty and delicious must be the kitchen.  So I burst straight through the big kitchen doors and do you know who was on the other side?”

“Uncle Benny,” Henry guessed.

“Uncle Benny,” Dean repeated, “And it turns out he was goin’ just as nuts as I was, trying to figure out what he had on the stove that was smelling so good.  But the minute we saw each other, we both knew that it wasn’t lunch that had us going crazy.  It was that we’d caught the scent of our True Mate.”

“Oh.  Cool.”  Henry scrapes the last few noodles off his plate.  “So what did you end up having to eat?”

Dean almost chokes on his glass of iced tea.  Sam gives him a dry look, clearly aware of the filthy place Henry’s innocent question sent Dean’s mind.

“Grilled cheese sandwiches, if I remember correctly,” Dean’s mate answers for him, coming to the rescue.  Benny drops a kiss on his temple as Dean blushes.  Only he and Dean know that those sandwiches didn’t get eaten until about three days later, after their hormones had settled and they’d been able to go ten minutes without having to be attached at the knot. 

“Uncle Benny!” Henry exclaims, and he’s scrambling over Sam’s lap to give Benny a hug.

“Hey, there.  Just the man I wanted to see,” Benny says, kneeling down to talk to Henry, “I need a hand in the kitchen with a few special desserts.  Think you’re up to the task?”

“Yeah,” Henry decides, before turning to Sam, “Can I go help?”

“Sure kiddo,” Sam says, giving Benny a friendly handshake as he addresses his son, “Just make sure you listen to Uncle Benny and be safe, ok?”

“Yes!” With a groan, Benny picks up his enthused nephew.

“Lord, you’re getting too big,” Benny declares, before turning to Dean and Sam, “We’ll be back shortly.”

Dean and Sam wave good bye as Henry and Benny disappear back into the kitchen.  Dean sends warm thoughts to his mate, who he knows “borrowed” Henry so he and Sam could have a chance to talk.

“So,” Sam says once Henry is gone, “Tell me what the woman at Growing Love actually said, and then we can decide if you want to take legal action.”

“Ugh,” Dean groaned, dropping his head onto the table, “You can take off your lawyer pants, Sammy.  She didn’t do anything illegal.  ‘Sides, you know we go to Cas for that stuff.”

“Yeah yeah,” Sam waves him off, “Impartiality, conflict of interest, whatever.  Cas isn’t back in town ‘til Friday and you know I’d stand up for you if you wanted to sue.”

“Yeah, I know,” Dean says, bumping Sam’s fist across the table, “Thanks.”

“So, with uh, ‘brother pants’ on only,” Sam continues, “What happened?”

Dean sighs, pushing his nearly clean plate aside.  “Same old, same old,” he tells his brother, “’You and your _partner_ don’t meet our moral standards’.  I’ll admit this lady brought it to a new level.  Apparently since me and Benny aren’t ‘really’ mated, letting us adopt would put a pup in _danger_.”

Sam cringes.  “Please tell me she did not actually say that to you.”

“That’s not even the best part,” Dean says, putting on his best impression of Naomi’s fake ‘compassion’, “It’s not too late for me and Benny to have pups, the right way.  All we have to do is open our hearts to our ‘True Omega Mates’.”

“Ugh,” Sam groans, “That sounds like those pamphlets Jess is always throwing out of the hospital waiting room.  She actually tried to _convert_ you.”

“Out of the goodness of her heart,” Dean assumes dryly.

“Well screw them,” Sam tells him, “You don’t want to deal with those people anyway.”

“Yeah, well I’m starting to think ‘those people’ are me and Benny’s only option,” Dean grumbles, swirling the ice in his glass, “That’s four agencies, Sam.  And four rejections.  Maybe this just isn’t in the cards.” 

“There’s gotta be a way, Dean,” Sam objects, “You and Benny are a great couple.  You deserve to be parents.  Somebody will see that.”

Dean’s tired of waiting for somebody to “realize” that he and Benny are worthy of parenting a pup.  He opens his mouth to tell Sam that but he’s interrupted by the return of Benny and Henry.

“We come bearing dessert,” Benny declares, helping Henry place a plate each in front of Dean and Sam.  Both men receive a slice of key lime pie, Benny’s house dessert.  It comes with a dark chocolate sauce, which Benny or Elizabeth usually apply in a subtle swirl on the edge of the plate, but these desserts have an extra artistic flair. 

“I helped,” Henry says proudly, climbing back into Sam’s lap.  Benny sets down a small slice of pie for Henry with a grin.

“I can see that,” Sam tells his son.  Both Dean and Sam’s plates are decorated in chocolate squiggles, clearly orchestrated by four-year-old hands. 

“Yours says ‘dad’,” Henry explains, pointing to some almost letter shaped drizzles of chocolate on Sam’s plate, “And Uncle Dean’s says his name too.”

“Great job, buddy,” Dean says, offering his tiny nephew a fist bump.  Benny puts his hand on Dean’s shoulder, admiring the happy recipients of his handiwork.

“I’ve gotta get back to the kitchen,” Benny says, as Sam and Henry dig into their pie, “One last rush, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Dean says, placing his hand over Benny’s, “Thanks for lunch, babe.  I’m parked out back, so I’ll see you before I leave.” 

“Good.”  Benny kisses the top of Dean’s head, stroking his thumb across Dean’s mating mark before saying goodbye to Sam and Henry and heading back to the kitchen for the rest of lunch service.

Conversation takes a quick turn back to Henry friendly territory after that.  Jess is fairly certain that her Heat is going to hit on Wednesday or Thursday next week, so Dean and Benny have been getting ready to have Henry over for a few nights.  Henry is very excited, and seems to be under the impression that Dean is going to take him along for a ride in an ambulance.  Dean makes a mental note to see if Benny can bring Henry by the station on Saturday when Dean has a shift.

Too soon their plates are scraped clean and Sam and Henry get ready to depart.  Sam’s wiping his son’s face in a futile attempt to erase the mess of chocolate Henry managed to get on himself. 

“Never mind, buddy,” Sam says, admitting defeat, “We’ve got some wet wipes in the car.”

Henry, who is not at all perturbed at being covered in chocolate sauce, scoots out of the booth to give Dean a hug. 

“See you on Wednesday?” Henry asks, chubby arms wrapped around Dean’s knees. 

“You know it, tiger,” Dean says, ruffling his nephew’s hair, “Your uncle and I are psyched.  We’re gonna party like it’s nineteen ninety-nine.”

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that,” Sam mutters.  He gives Dean his own backslapping hug after Henry.  “I’ll call you, soon as we know what’s up.”

“Okay Sammy,” Dean says, enjoying the familial warmth of his Alpha brother’s scent before they part, “Take it easy, okay?”

“You got it,” Sam promises.  He and Henry take off, heading for their car parked out front.  Dean heads out through the back, stopping to check in with Benny real quick.  The worst of the lunch rush is over but Benny is still plugging away at his remaining orders.  He steps away from a delicate salad to say goodbye.

“Ezekiel is gonna prep for dinner,” Benny tells Dean, “So I’ll probably be home by five.”

“Awesome.”  Dean gives Benny a kiss.  “You want me to throw something in the crock pot?”

“Sounds good, _cher_.”

“I’ll see you later,” Dean promises, going to leave through the back door, “Take it easy, Zeke.”

Benny’s other sous chef/line cook gives Dean a genial wave from the other side of the kitchen as he goes.  Zeke is a quiet guy.  He works hard and doesn’t like to make waves, which is fitting considering he’s working at _Baton Rouge_ under a false identity. 

Ezekiel Norman had applied for the line cook position at Benny’s restaurant about two years ago, without a social security card and with an obviously faked driver’s license.  This might have been a red flag for most potential employers, but Benny knew a criminal from an Omega on the run.  With mating laws as they are, it’s almost impossible for an Omega to escape an abusive relationship.   Zeke wouldn’t be the first guy to disappear and try to start a new life.  After a long talk that Dean elected not to sit in on, Benny offered Zeke a permanent position at _Baton Rouge_ and the rest is history _._ Dean still doesn’t know Zeke’s real name and he doesn’t care to.  All he cares is that Benny trusts him, and that he doesn’t believe Zeke is a danger to his business or his family.  Benny has to pay his sous chef in cash, but other than that Zeke is just like any other employee.  He and Elizabeth get along famously, and Charlie took a shine to him right away.  Dean and Benny both turned a blind eye when Zeke’s false credentials suddenly got a lot more authentic looking after Charlie intervened.

Dean leaves _Baton Rouge_ in Benny and Zeke’s capable hands.  He pulls into the garage at home a little after two, just in time to throw the pork chops from Tuesday’s shopping trip into their slow cooker, along with a pound of thinly sliced onions and a bottle of barbecue sauce.  It should be fall apart tender by the time Benny gets home hungry for dinner.

Dean figures he’s got a few hours to burn.  He changes into some comfy pants and parks himself in front of the TV.  Dean scrolls past he and Benny’s saved _Top Chef_ episodes to find the latest _Dr. Sexy_ he’d missed because of a relief shift last week. 

Dean nods off halfway through the episode, following the dramatic reveal of Dr. Piccolo’s surprise pregnancy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go. Sorry for the broken up chapter, it's been a long week at work. Enjoy!

Dean wakes up slowly, a warm presence pinging his awareness.

“Somethin’ smells good, _cher_.”

Dean’s eyes are still closed, but he can scent the earthy lavender and whiskey of his mate.  He smiles.

“Oh yeah?”

Benny’s work rough fingertips stroke across Dean’s brow.

“Mm hm,” he rumbles, “And I’ll bet those pork chops are gonna start smellin’ soon too.”

Dean wrinkles his nose, peeking at his mate.  “That’s an old joke, baby.” 

Benny is perched on the arm of the couch behind Dean.  His hand slips down from Dean’s brow to the collar of his shirt; thumb teasing at Dean’s mating mark again.

“It’s a good one,” Benny says, dipping down to drop a kiss on Dean’s sleep soft mouth, “And you do smell like heaven, sugar.”

Dean tilts his head back so their kiss can deepen.  He reaches up to brace one hand on the back of Benny’s neck.  His mate’s short hair scratches at the pads of Dean’s fingers when he drags them against the grain.

Dean moans a little when Benny’s hand dips into the v of his t-shirt and traces over the planes of his chest, pausing to drag over his nipples.  Their mouths slant together and the kiss gets messy and wet.  Dean scratches his blunt nails down the back of Benny’s neck and his mate growls.

When they finally part Dean is panting and Benny’s baby blues are nearly black with arousal. 

“Dinner still needs another hour,” Dean murmurs.  He guides Benny’s hand back over his shirt and further down his chest to his groin.  “I say we take a trip down the hall and bang.”

“You read my mind,” Benny drawls, teasing his fingers against the bulge in Dean’s jeans, “I wanna suck your knot.”

Dean whimpers into his mate’s neck.

“Are you amenable to that situation?” Benny asks he pops Dean’s top button.  Dean sighs at the release of pressure against his growing erection.

“I’ll make it through somehow,” he breathes, and Benny chuckles.

Dean goes to lean up for another kiss and instead he gets a face full of Benny’s armpit as his mate apparently decides to climb on top of Dean’s prone form. 

“Ugh,” Dean grunts, laughing as Benny lumbers over the sofa like a predatory grizzly, “What are you doing?”  He tries to flatten out on the couch cushions and avoid anymore wayward elbows.

“Getting comfortable,” Benny says cryptically, parting Dean’s thighs with a hum.

“If you throw your back out again I’m leaving you here,” Dean threatens, flailing under his mate’s muscled limbs.

Benny pauses to kiss the little section of soft belly just below Dean’s navel once he’s eye level with Dean’s crotch.

“Just trust me, darlin’.”

After some precarious movement Benny manages to get his knees planted on either side of Dean’s head without kicking him in the face.  Before Dean even has the chance to orient himself Benny is tugging Dean’s pants down to his thighs and taking Dean’s recently exposed cock right into his mouth.  Dean wheezes, reaching for the first solid thing he can get a good grip on, which just happens to be Benny’s ass.  His mate is still fully clothed, so Dean tucks his fingers into Benny’s belt loops and goes along for the ride.

“What happened to the bedroom?” Dean asks, delirious with the hot suction around his cock.  Benny pulls off with a pop.  He peeks back at Dean.

“I changed my mind,” he drawls, and goes right back to sucking. 

Size wise, Dean’s not as big as Benny, but he’s definitely nothing to sneeze at.  It speaks to their years of practice that Benny is able to take Dean in as far into his mouth as he can.  Dean can tell the weird position makes deep throating a little more difficult but Benny’s never been one to back down from a challenge.  He pins Dean’s hips to the couch and swallows around the head of his cock.  Dean has to blink the bright spots out of his eyes.  His fingers have slipped from Benny’s ass and are scrabbling mindlessly at the bare skin below Benny’s rucked up shirt.

“Oh god,” Dean swears as Benny draws his mouth up his shaft, “Oh _fuck_.”

Benny works his mouth up and down Dean’s cock, his beard chafing Dean’s inner thighs just the right amount.  Dean can’t do anything about the delicious assault on his senses except moan and let his toes curl into the coarse material of the sofa.  Benny curls his hand around the swelling base of Dean’s cock, squeezing and massaging the proto-knot that’s forming as he sucks Dean off. 

Benny pulls off again and jacks Dean’s spit slick cock with his tight fist. 

“That’s it,” he coaxes, sucking at Dean’s knot, “You’re getting close.  I can tell.”

Dean nods wordlessly, managing to hitch his hips up the barest inch until Benny gets the idea and takes Dean back into his mouth.  Between the suction and the wet heat, “little Dean” is more than convinced that it’s knotting time.  Dean throws his head back with a ragged groan and paws at Benny’s shoulders in warning before he comes, pleasure wracking his frame.  Benny sucks and licks until Dean is senseless and the flow of bodily fluids has slowed to a dull trickle.

When Dean returns to a state of mind which can process more than the concepts of _Benny_ and _awesome,_ he sees that his mate managed to pull back in time to dodge the worst of the eruption, which puts Dean in a sticky situation.  Literally.

Thanks to Benny’s heavenly mouth, Dean’s popped a knot.  Unfortunately that means climaxing on the couch makes a mess, which is markedly less sexy than the incredible orgasm Benny just gave him.

“Shit,” Dean laughs, trying to scoot out of the massive wet spot.  Benny growls playfully and holds Dean in place, not finished mouthing at Dean’s receding knot. 

“ _Benny_ ,” Dean whines, grossed out but still shivering with the pleasure of Benny’s mouth on his sensitive dick.

“We’ve got a waterproof slipcover for a reason, _cher_ ,” Benny reminds him smugly.  He sucks on the head of Dean’s spent cock and Dean hisses at the overstimulation.  He braces himself on the back of Benny’s thighs.  The rough denim under his fingers reminds Dean of Benny’s cock, obviously hard and still trapped in the confines of his mate’s work pants, conveniently waiting right above Dean’s face.  Dean leans up to nuzzle at Benny’s erection through the black material of his trousers and Benny groans, finally releasing Dean from his exquisite torture.

“Now hold on,” Benny urges, even though his hips are pressing down against Dean’s ministrations of their own accord, “I’m not sure the couch will survive the both of us.”

“Slipcover,” Dean reminds him, sliding one hand from Benny’s thigh to his crotch, haphazardly tugging down Benny’s zipper.  In short order he’s nosing at Benny’s thick cock through his boxers.  Benny’s panting, his forehead pressed to Dean’s inner thigh.

Dean grins as he slides his fingers beneath the waistband of Benny’s black boxers.

“Payback time, baby.”


	6. Chapter 6

“Welcome back, Cas!”

Friday night finds Dean and Benny joining Dean’s buddy Victor at the local watering hole to welcome back their mutual friend Castiel from his weeklong trip to Chicago.  Cas had left last Friday to attend his oldest brother’s mating ceremony and he’d been dreading the trip for months.  Castiel was a finance lawyer who had settled in Lawrence and set up a successful practice managing family estates and advising local business, including Benny’s restaurant.  As such he was by far the least affluent member of his large and aloof family, and they never let him forget it.  Dean, Victor, and Benny had gotten here three hours ago to help Cas get shit faced and forget every asinine bit of social climbing he’d been forced to withstand over the last week.

A shot of vodka and three beers had loosened Cas up, and the wrinkle in his forehead that always appeared after a trip to his home state was finally started to ease.

“So spill, buddy,” Dean says, nudging his friend, “How was Chicago?”

“To be honest it was miserable,” Castiel tells the group, “It was bitterly cold the whole week.  And that was just my brothers.  The weather was even worse.”

Benny and Victor laugh while Dean gives Cas a consoling pat on the back.  They’ve long become used to Castiel’s flat sense of humor, not to mention his family’s bizarre antics.

“So not the most heartwarming of ceremonies then?” Benny asks. 

“Far from it.  It was painful from start to finish,” Castiel says, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people less happy to be mated.  Michael may as well have been signing a business contract, all the cloyingly sweet flourishes aside.”

“Was the food good at least?” Victor asks incredulously, “They must have shelled out for a good spread.”

“It was delicious,” Castiel admits, “What little of it I got to eat, anyways.  I spent most of the reception avoiding the long line of greasy Alphas looking to prove they were the True Mate of the last single Novak brother.”

Dean has to wince at that.  “That’s rough, man.  At least you didn’t turn out to be scent compatible with anyone.”

Castiel scoffs, draining the rest of his third beer.

“As if that would matter,” Castiel sighs, “There’s no possible way Michael and Lilith are True Mates, whatever their license may say.  I’d almost feel bad, if my brother wasn’t such an ass.  Either way, that is not the life for me.”

Benny wraps his arm around Dean’s shoulders and the four men commiserate for a few moments, nursing their beers until Dean raises his bottle solemnly.

“A toast,” he says, “To the end of Cas’ trip, which as we all predicted, turned out to be supremely shitty.  Cas, we’re all glad to have you back.”

 “Amen to that,” Castiel mutters as they clink their bottles together.

“I almost forgot,” Benny announces, picking up a white box from where it had been sitting on the floor between him and Dean, “In honor of Castiel’s return, and as thanks for the first round purchased by Victor, I brought provisions.”

“Aw yes,” Victor crows, reaching for the box, “Show me the money, baby.”

“I’ve got chocolate or blueberry,” Benny says, opening the cake sized pastry box, “All baked this morning by my niece.”

“Thank god for Elizabeth,” Dean toasts to his niece-in-law’s baking skills.  Cas cracks open his fourth beer in time to join the toast along with Victor’s “here here”. 

Victor’s claimed his chocolate silk pie and a slightly tipsy Cas is digging into a generous slice of blueberry when Benny’s phone goes off in his pocket. 

“Huh,” he muses, looking at the caller id, “Speaking of Elizabeth…”

“It’s,” Dean says, checking his watch, “Jeez, it’s almost eleven.  Dinner service has gotta be over by now.”

“Everything okay?” Victor asks.  Cas gives them an inquisitive look, his fork still in his mouth.

“I’m sure it is,” Benny assures the group, “I better take this.  Just in case.”

“Yeah, okay,” Dean agrees.  He watches with concern as Benny steps away from the table to move to the quieter front entrance way to answer the call.  He’s a little warm from two slow beers, but he’s not drunk like Cas, or tipsy like Victor.  Benny’s designated driver, so Dean knows he’s stone cold sober.  That makes it twice as worrying when Dean hears Benny’s agitated voice above the low hum of the busy bar. 

“What?  Hang on Lizzie, I can’t hear you-“

Benny disappears out the front door.  Dean jumps when Castiel tugs on his sleeve.

“You should go check on him,” his friend advises. 

“Yeah, I think I will,” Dean agrees, and he slides out of his seat and follows his mate out the front door.  Benny is standing right outside in the cool night air.  He acknowledges Dean’s presence by taking his hand.

“Elizabeth, darlin’, slow down,” Benny urges, and Dean’s hackles rise as his mate’s mellow scent sharpens with distress, “Start from the beginning.”

Elizabeth’s frantic voice cuts out for a moment, then she starts again, too low for Dean to hear.  That doesn’t stop his gut from fluttering with anxiety as he watches Benny’s expression grow increasingly alarmed. 

“Benny?” Dean asks quietly, but Benny shakes his head.  Except for the muffled sounds of the crowded bar, the night is quiet as Elizabeth’s words finally peter out.  Dean doesn’t think he’s ever seen Benny so genuinely shocked.

“Lizzie, you get over to our house as you can,” Benny decides, back in control after a deep breath, “we’ll meet you there and figure everything out.  It’s gonna be okay, honey.”

A few moments later Benny ends the call, and for once he’s the one pulling Dean close to seek his mate’s comforting scent.

“What’s the matter?” Dean asks.  Too many horrible possibilities are playing through his mind like a film reel.  “Do we need to call the police?  If she’s hurt-“

“No, _cher_ ,” Benny interrupts him, smoothing down Dean’s collar where he’s wrinkled it, “It’s nothing like that, I don’t think.”

Benny is worried, but not in the smoldering rage Dean knows him capable of when he thinks his family is in immediate danger.  Dean is starting to narrow down the possible scenarios at hand.  The most likely one finally strikes him at the same time Benny opens his mouth.

“Elizabeth thinks she might be pregnant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note the adjusted relationship tags! Enjoy!

Dean and Benny make their apologies to Cas and Victor and head home as quickly as they can.  Their friends are understanding, if concerned at their sudden departure.  Once they have a promise that Castiel is going to take a cab home Dean and Benny practically race to the Impala.  Benny has to drive, thought Dean is considerably more sober now than he was ten minutes ago, and he spends most of the short drive back to their house trying to keep Benny from completely blowing the speed limit. 

“It’s okay, Alpha,” Dean tries to soothe his mate, despite his own pounding pulse, “Elizabeth isn’t in danger.” 

Benny takes deep breaths and keeps his eyes on the road until they’re pulling into their driveway.  Elizabeth’s beat up sedan in already parked in the street.  Their niece is waiting on the front porch, looking very young as she races down the driveway into Benny’s waiting embrace. 

“Shh,” Benny soothes, “It’s alright, darlin’.  We’re here.”

Their presence seems to trigger some sense of safety, because Elizabeth finally bursts into tears, clinging to her uncle.  Benny, on the other hand, seems to calm, most likely because he can with his own eyes that Elizabeth isn’t hurt.  He holds Elizabeth close, rubbing her back and offering calming words to his twenty-year-old niece. 

The last few weeks have been busy at the restaurant, so Dean hasn’t had the chance to scent his niece outside of the muddle of aromas that make up the kitchen at _Baton Rouge_.  Here in the crisp night air it’s not difficult to pick Elizabeth’s sweet spicy scent out from Benny’s earthier one, and there’s no getting around it: her scent has changed, from light and fragrant to sugar sweet.  Dean catches his mate’s eye and he knows that despite the bitter edge of distress clouding the air Benny has noticed the change as well. 

“I’m not ready to be a mom,” Elizabeth cries into Benny’s shoulder, “I’m supposed to go to school in _September_ , Benny.”

“Hang in there, Lizzie,” Benny urges, “Nothin’s written in stone yet.”

 Dean helps guide the pair back up the driveway and into the house.  Once they’re inside, Elizabeth’s hysterics die down a little and she manages to explain her recently missed Heat, and she reveals the home pregnancy test she took earlier tonight. 

“I’m sorry,” she gasps, cheeks red and blotchy, “I didn’t know who to call, and my mom’s in Louisiana and she’s gonna be so _mad-_ “

“Nobody’s mad at you, honey,” Benny reminds her, sitting Elizabeth down at the kitchen table, “You’re an adult and what you do with your body is nobody else’s business.  And you can call me for anything, you know that.”

“And if somebody hurt you, you can tell us,” Dean interjects, “They’ll never find the body.”

Dean’s being completely serious but apparently Elizabeth thinks it’s funny because she manages to stop crying long enough to laugh.

“You can stand down, Alphas,” Elizabeth says wetly, “It’s nothing like that.  Aiden is a sweet Alpha but we’re just friends.  Well, you know, um… _friends_.  He lives in my building.  We’ve been having fun together but we’re not mates and we’re definitely not ready to be parents.”

The mere mention of her current predicament causes a fresh wave of tears.

“We’ve been so _careful_ ,” Elizabeth cries, “I don’t know how this happened.  He doesn’t know yet, and I don’t know if I should even tell him, or if I should just get rid of it or-“

Dean takes Elizabeth’s hands in his own.  The grounding touch seems to soothe her and Elizabeth manages a few heaving breaths. 

“Take it easy Liz,” Dean tells her, “This could happen to anybody.  And you don’t have to make any of those decisions tonight.”

“That’s right,” Benny adds, “First things first we’re gonna get you to a doctor, and then you should to talk to Cas.”

Elizabeth’s brow furrowed in confusion.  “Your lawyer?”

“Yeah darlin’,” Benny continues, “You’ve got rights, and a lot of options right now.  Castiel knows what you’re going through, and he’ll make sure nobody makes your decisions but you.”

“Okay,” Elizabeth says, “I like the sound of that.” 

“Do you have a doctor in town?” Dean asks, pulling out his phone.  Elizabeth shakes her head.

“I never really got around to it,” she admits, “I’ve been so wrapped up in the restaurant, and we’ve always had you around for burns and whatnot.  Do you know somebody good?”

“I do.  Her name’s Jody Mills and she’s the best,” Dean says, pulling up Jody’s contact, “She _is_ an Alpha.  Are you okay with that?”

“As long as you trust her it’s fine,” Elizabeth answers.  Her scent is still a little sharp, but it’s starting to settle now that they have a plan coming together for the immediate future.

“Alright.  Lemme give her a call.”

“How are you feelin’, Lizzie?” Benny asks, as Dean dials his phone, “You need anything right now?”

“I’m a little hungry,” Elizabeth admits, “I was so worked up earlier I couldn’t keep anything down.”

“Now that, I can fix,” Benny says, rubbing his niece’s shoulders before pulling out a few pans.  Dean leaves Benny and Elizabeth cooking up a snack in the kitchen as his phone rings.  Jody gave him her personal number a few years ago after they wound up delivering a pup in the back of an ambulance together so Dean’s hoping she’ll pick up despite it being decidedly after business hours.

“Jody’s phone,” answers a cheerful voice after a few rings, “If you’re looking for my mate she’s currently dealing with a teenage situation, but I can try and break it up if it’s urgent.”

“This must be Donna,” Dean guesses.  Jody mentioned her Omega mate on more than one occasion, always with a fond and exasperated expression.

“You betcha,” Donna continues, “And this would be…”

“Dean Winchester.  I work with Jody sometimes at the hospital,” Dean explains, “It’s not an emergency per say, but I’ve got a niece who just found out she might be in need of Jody’s services.  Is she around?”

“Lemme see if I can tap Jody-o out of the cage match,” Donna says, and for the next few seconds Dean’s ear is filled with the sound of muffled raised voices and rustling fabric.  From the kitchen Dean can still hear Benny and Elizabeth’s murmured voices.  A warm, cinnamon smell is starting to seep into the living room.  It makes Dean’s belly rumble despite their dinner only a few hours ago. 

“You’ve got Mills,” Jody’s voice cuts into Dean’s reverie.

“Jody, hi,” Dean says, “It’s Dean Winchester.  How are things?”

“Besides a daughter with too keen an interest in fireworks, everything’s peachy,” Jody deadpans, “So what can I do you for?”

“My mate’s niece is pretty sure she’s pregnant,” Dean says, getting right to the point, “She missed a Heat and a home test came out positive.  I was wondering if there was any way you could squeeze her in for a blood test, the sooner the better?”

“We can do that.  I’ll have Donna check the schedule and text you,” Jody says after a pause, “You think it’s the real deal?”

“Well her scent’s definitely changed,” Dean says, “Though it’s more difficult to tell since she’s distressed.  But yeah I think it’s really happening.”

“Am I out of line to guess that since you’re calling me at nine o’clock at night that this is a surprise?”

“That’s an understatement,” Dean confirms, “We’re definitely all still processing, Liz especially, but for now the priority is just to get a confirmation and make sure everybody’s healthy.”

“Good plan,” Jody says, “No need to make a fuss if it’s just a false positive.  Is she okay, other than shock?”

“I think so,” Dean answers, “Elizabeth’s a tough girl, and she’s got me and Benny to back her up.”

“Good.  Let me have a powwow with my mate and get back to you on an appointment,” Jody says, “I usually leave a block open in the morning for occasions such as this.”

“Great,” Dean says, “Thanks Jody.”

Dean returns to the kitchen where Benny has a bowl of warm cinnamon oatmeal waiting for him, dotted with plump blueberries and brown sugar.  Benny’s on the phone as well, so Dean keeps his voice low as he fills Elizabeth in on what Jody said. 

“She’s gonna call us back,” Dean promises, “But she thinks she might have a spot first thing tomorrow.”

“Good,” Elizabeth says, holding her own bowl close to her chest, “I want a sure answer as quick as we can get one.  I’ll feel awful if I panicked you both over nothing.”

“Hey now,” Dean assures her, “Nobody’s panicking here.  Either way, we’re always here for you.”

“Thanks Dean.”  Elizabeth pulls Dean into a one armed hug, sniffling into his shirt for a second.  Dean is pleasantly surprised to find Elizabeth drawing on his scent for comfort, like she would with biological family.  Dean looks up to see Benny smiling at the pair of them, before a low voice, Zeke, Dean’s guessing, pulls Benny back to the phone.

“No, no Zeke,” Benny says, returning to his conversation, “We’re all fine.  Just a little family emergency.  …I appreciate that.  You can call Charlie or Kevin in to help with the prep, they both know the menu well enough.  I’ll be there in time for dinner, for sure.”

Zeke says something else, and Benny smiles. 

“I knew I could count on you, brother,” Benny says, “I’ll make sure you get time and a half for the extra hours.  …No, I insist.  Okay, I’ll call and check in during lunch tomorrow.  Thanks again.”

“You don’t have to miss work for me, Benny,” Elizabeth objects as soon as Benny ends the call.

“Don’t be silly, darlin’,” Benny says, waving her off, “Zeke can handle one lunch service on his own.  We’re not just gonna send you to the doctor by yourself.”

Dean’s phone buzzes in his pocket.

“Speaking of which,” Dean says, pulling out the device. 

 _8:30?_ Reads the text from Jody.

 _We’ll see you there,_ Dean responds. 

“Was that Jody?” Elizabeth asks.

“Yup,” Dean tells Benny and Elizabeth, “Eight-thirty tomorrow morning.”

“Okay,” Benny says, “There’s nothing else we can do tonight.  I say we all try to get some rest.  I’ll get some sheets for the pull out sofa.”   

Elizabeth opens her mouth, no doubt to object about imposing on Dean and Benny even more, but she closes it again when Benny gives her a look. 

“Thank you,” she says instead, clearly relieved to not have to be alone, “Both of you.”

“It’s no trouble, darlin’.”

Once Elizabeth is well fed and set up for bed; snug and warm on the pull out couch in some of Benny’s old pajamas, Dean and Benny retreat to their own bedroom for the night.  Dean’s pulling on his pajamas when his phone buzzes again.  This time the message is from Cas. 

 _I’m mostly sobered up_ , Castiel’s text reads, _Are you and Benny alright??_   

 _We’re okay_ , Dean texts his friend back _, We might need your lawyering skills in the near future.  We’ll know more tomorrow._

 _I capisce,_ Castiel replies _, Call me anytime.  You know I’m here for you/your family._

 _Back at you_ , Dean texts, _Drink some water before you go to sleep.  Pop by BR tomorrow if you need a hangover cure._

“Cas is here anytime we need him,” Dean tells his mate, pulling back the covers on their bed.  Benny pulls his sleep shirt over his head. 

“That’s good,” Benny says, “Cas knows his stuff, and it’ll be good for Elizabeth to have another Omega she can talk to.”

Dean hums his agreement, setting his phone alarm with shaking fingers.

Elizabeth is pregnant.  Almost definitely. AndLiz is a smart girl.  She knows her body and she knows what she wants.  If Elizabeth thinks she’s pregnant it’s probably true, and if she says she’s not ready to be a parent that’s equally likely.  Dean’s head is a confusing soup of emotions right now.  Frantic concern, shock, a little tinge of anger at Elizabeth’s “friend”, not that that’s any of his business.  But buried underneath it all is hope.  Ugly, selfish hope. 

Dean is sick with it as he slides into bed beside his mate and Benny pulls him close under the covers.

Elizabeth might have a pup on the way that she doesn’t want.

 He and Benny are desperate to be parents. 

“ _Cher_ , you’re thinking so loud I can almost hear you,” Benny rumbles, resting his head against the back of Dean’s neck.

“I know.” 

Benny sighs, wrapping his arm more firmly around Dean’s chest.  Benny’s scent still has notes of worry, but melancholy is starting to seep through the honey tones.  Benny is on the same page.  Of course he is, it’s _Benny_.

“You know we can’t ask-“

“I know,” Dean whispers, cutting Benny off.  He can’t hear Benny say the words.  As long as they never say it out loud Dean won’t fall apart and they can stay focused on what Elizabeth needs right now.  Elizabeth is family and they need to take care of her.  Nothing else matters.

If Benny can scent the bitter saltiness of the few tears that drip onto Dean’s pillow he doesn’t say anything.  He only kisses the back of Dean’s neck, and holds him close until they both drift off into an uneasy sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning Benny whips up a light breakfast which they all struggle to eat.  The light and fluffy eggs on Dean’s plate may as well be rubber, and he can see Elizabeth’s plate is in a similar state. 

They leave early so Elizabeth can run up to her apartment and put on some fresh clothes before they head to Dr. Mill’s private OB/GYN practice, just a few minutes away from the hospital where Dean ends up with most of his EMT calls. 

Dean only knows Jody from the inside of an ambulance, so he doesn’t expect the warm, cleanly designed reception office they walk into.  The walls are a friendly robin’s egg blue, with white trim and comfortable looking chairs scattered around low ottoman tables.  The floors are a neutral tile with bright area rugs by the entrance and in front of the dark wood reception desk.  It’s about as far from the usual hospital aesthetic as a doctor’s waiting room can be.  Dean can feel Elizabeth relax as they enter the space.

“This place is pretty swank,” he mutters to Benny.  His mates chuckles his agreement.

“Hello there!”  Behind the desk waits a chipper nurse, who by her sweet scent also happens to be an Omega.  “Are you my eight-thirty?”

Dean and Benny follow Elizabeth up to the front desk to meet the plump and cheerful nurse.  One of the first things Dean notices about the woman is her nametag.

“You’re Jody’s Donna?” Dean asks, trying to keep the rude surprise out of his voice.  From what Dean knows of her Jody is a lean, cynical lady Alpha with a boy-short haircut and a kind but no-nonsense bedside manner.  Donna is probably the antithesis of Jody physically, with a soft full figure and expressive feminine features to go with her strawberry blonde hair. 

“That’s me,” Donna quips, “You must be Dean.  With Benny and Elizabeth?”

“I’m Elizabeth,” their niece says, “I’m here for a pregnancy test.”

“Okay then,” Donna says.  When she steps out from behind the desk her bright blue scrubs are stretched over a massively pregnant belly. “I’ve got a few forms for you to fill out, and then Jody will be ready to see you.”  

Elizabeth’s eyes are big and round as she notices Donna’s expectant state.  Given her current predicament Dean doesn’t blame her for comparing her currently thin midriff to the friendly Omega nurse’s.

“Oh,” Donna exclaims, laughing as she rests a hand on her stomach, “Didn’t mean to surprise ‘ya.  I’m a bit of a poster child for the practice at the moment.”

“Sorry,” Elizabeth stammers, “That was rude of me.  How far along are you?”

“Seven months and two weeks,” Donna says with pride.

“Congratulations,” Elizabeth offers with a smile.  Lafitte manners are nothing to sneeze at, Dean muses. 

“Thanks.  We’re looking forward to the new addition,” Donna chirps, “Now let’s get your paperwork filled out.”

Since they’re the only ones in the waiting room Donna actually sits down with Elizabeth and guides her through the basic forms.  After a few minutes Dean gets a clearer idea of why Jody and Donna make a good pair.  Donna may be bubbly but in the space of a few sheets of paperwork she’s managed to get Elizabeth calmed down and even laughing at a few of her quirkier turns of phrase.  Elizabeth fills out all of the forms with only a few questions to Benny about Lafitte family medical history.  Her sweetened scent is still a little sharp, but it’s nothing compared to breakfast this morning.  Dean exchanges a glance with Benny.  They definitely brought Liz to the right place. 

“Okie dokie,” Donna says, rising with some little effort, “Lemme see how Jody’s doing with her current patient.”

“No need,” calls a voice from behind them.  Dr. Jody Mills emerges from a door just to the left of the reception desk in a white lab coat.  The patient she must have just finished with slips out behind her.  At a subtle glance from Jody both Dean and Benny stay seated until the slight, nervous man grabs his jacket from the other side of the room and leaves with a jittery wave to Jody and Donna. 

“Thanks,” Jody says, once the patient is gone, “He’s a little nervous around Alphas.”

“We get it,” Benny replies.  Jody crosses the room to shake their hands, Elizabeth first, then Dean and Benny. 

“Nice to see you again, Jody,” Dean says.

“The feeling’s mutual,” Jody agrees, “Though I’ll admit I’m glad we’re not in the back of an ambulance this time.  So where’s my patient?”

“That’s me,” Elizabeth speaks up, “I’m Elizabeth Lafitte.”

“Alright, honey,” Jody says, “You ready to get this show on the road?”

“Definitely,” Elizabeth replies.  Jody leads the way toward the back examination rooms and Dean and Benny follow hesitantly.

“I’m sure you fellas understand,” Donna says, blocking the door subtly with her petite frame, “No Alphas beyond this point unless you’re a potential papa.”

“Or the doctor,” Jody adds dryly.  Donna swats her mate with Elizabeth’s clipboard.

“No problem,” Benny agrees, giving Elizabeth a quick hug, “We’ll both be waiting if you need us, alright?”

“Thanks, Benny,” Elizabeth whispers.  She breathes in Benny’s comforting familial scent before she follows Jody through the swinging doors and leaves Dean and Benny to sit nervously in the softly lit waiting room.

“So’s this your first rodeo?” Donna asks, returning to her desk, opening a snack pack of powdered donuts, “You boys look a little green.”

“We’re just worried about Liz,” Dean explains, “She’s the closest family we’ve got on Benny’s side.  We just want to make sure she’s alright.”

“Plus we’re both Alphas,” Benny tells Donna, though Dean is sure Jody’s mate guessed that the minute they both came within scenting distance, “We didn’t really think a trip in here was in the cards for us, personal or otherwise.”

Donna hums.  “Well, you never know,” she says around a mouthful of powdered sugar, “Sometimes things just work out like that.  Donut?”

Elizabeth reemerges a few minutes later.  The blood test itself takes no time at all, Dean knows from experience.  It’s the waiting that kills you.  According to Jody there isn’t a lot of traffic in the lab today, so they could have their results by dinner.  On the doctor’s advice they head home and try to keep busy until the call comes. 

After a short nap, no doubt needed after the stress of the previous evening, Elizabeth insists on heading to the restaurant to help Zeke with the end of the lunch rush. 

“There’s no point in sitting around here,” she tells Dean and Benny, “I’ll feel better if I can cook something.” 

With no reasonable excuses left Benny agrees and they head to _Baton Rouge_.  Zeke is handling the kitchen just fine, but he’s visibly relieved to see the three of them in one piece, especially Elizabeth.  He even gives their Omega niece a hug.  It’s brief, and a little stiff, but it’s the most emotion any of them have ever seen from Benny’s second sous chef, and it makes Elizabeth break out in a big smile.   

When Dean sees how worn out Charlie and Kevin are after the hectic morning, he sends them both on a long lunch and works the rest of the service himself.  It’s a little after one, so it’s not too crowded and Dean handles the few tables of regulars just fine.  It reminds him fondly of when he and Benny were first mated, and he used to work the odd shift when his fledgling restaurateur mate was in a tight spot.

With Benny and Elizabeth there the kitchen transitions seamlessly from lunch to dinner.  Zeke sticks around through the end of lunch and well into dinner prep, but he’s grateful to be sent home around five with a steaming to-go box.  Kevin’s shift ends, but Charlie comes back along with Ash to wait tables.  They banish Dean back to the kitchen, and he’s grateful. 

Dean helps himself to some coffee and situates himself on a stool by the freezer.  He’s got a shift in the morning, so he’d be within his bounds to go home at this point, but Dean wants to stick around.  After the last twenty-four hours, not to mention the crackling uncertainty still hanging in the air, Dean is happier with his family in sight.  Benny and Elizabeth are in high gear with the arrival of the dinner rush.  All the stress of the day is put on the back burner, no pun intended, as they move around the kitchen.  Pots are bubbling on the stove; knives are clacking against wooden cutting boards.  Benny drops marinated steak and chicken onto the flaming grill and Liz juliennes vegetables to be roasted in the oven.  They move fast, with knives and fire and hot pans but nothing ever gets dropped and there’s never a collision. 

Around eight o’clock Elizabeth’s cell phone rings and it brings dinner service to a dead stop.  Dean and Benny act casual as Elizabeth checks the caller id and steps outside to take the call.  The anxiety that had settled into a dull background miasma is back in full force, and Dean is about to get up and comfort his mate when Elizabeth returns just as quickly as she’d left.

“It’s official,” Elizabeth says with a sharp exhale, “I’m knocked up.”

The kitchen falls silent except for the crackle of frying oil.  Benny moves a pan off the flame, and Dean puts his coffee down.  Both Alphas look to Benny’s niece.

“I guess,” Elizabeth begins, looking relatively calm, “I guess I’d like to talk to Castiel, then.”

Dean and Benny exchange a glance.

“Okay,” Benny says, putting his entrée back onto the burner.

“Okay,” Dean says.  He pulls out his phone and texts Cas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for anyone who's wondering, yes, a female alpha can impregnate their Omega mate. How? I have no idea. As with most of the mechanics of ABO reproduction, I choose not to examine it too closely. Anyways hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

Dean’s been checking his cell obsessively ever since he got to the station at six.

_How’s it going?_

_She’s still in with Cas._

_I’m dying here, Benny._

_That makes two of us, cher._

Once Dean explained the situation last night Castiel had cleared his schedule for the next day.  Now Dean is stuck at the dispatch center until dinner, heavy with the knowledge that as he sits here on his ass Elizabeth is making one of the biggest decisions of her life.

Benny had dropped Elizabeth off at Castiel’s office at eight that morning, with the promise that she would text him as soon as she was done, and it was going on eleven now.   Dean trusted Cas to objectively guide Elizabeth.  He was an Omega, and a lawyer, so he knew better than anyone how to help Elizabeth make an informed decision, but damn it, did he have to be so goddamned thorough?

Usually it was a relief when Dean still hadn’t gone on a call by noon.  Being bored at his job was a _good_ thing.  But today Dean just wished Victor would send him on a nice long ride.  He’s done his rig inspection three times.  At this point Dean is about to go start trying to rescue kittens out of trees, he’s so antsy. 

It’s not his business, really, Dean muses as he lies on his bunk and tries to beat level 16 of _Candy Crush_ on his phone.  Elizabeth is gonna make the best decision for her, and that’s the way it should be.  But whatever decision _she_ makes, it’s gonna affect him and Benny in a big way.  They could be helping Elizabeth through a pregnancy or not.  They could be helping Elizabeth through the first few years of single motherhood or not.  It doesn’t particularly sound like she wants to play house with this Aiden guy, but who knows.  She could decide to terminate the pregnancy or put the pup up for adoption.  Or.  Or. Or. 

Selfish, horrible wishful thinking aside, Dean just wants to _know_.

“B-rig,” Victor’s voice blurts out of Dean’s walkie-talkie, snapping him out of his fugue, “Code three on the corner of Maple and Henderson.  Winchester, Fitzgerald, Milton, that’s a Code three.  I’ll have more once you’re on the bus.”

“Winchester, here,” Dean responds, yanking on his boots, “Roger that, Vic.  Code three.”

Finally, someone Dean can _help_.

Dean spends the rest of his shift treating a family whose mini-van was t-boned by a drunk driver in a sedan.  The driver is question is DOA, but thanks to Dean, Garth, and Alfie the family are all stabilized and transported to the hospital with only a few serious injuries.  The closest call is the Alpha father who was driving and bore the brunt of the collision.  Dean and his team can only splint the compound fracture in his left arm and do their best to prevent the onset of shock.  Luckily the Omega father only suffers a broken collarbone and some cuts from a shattered window.  The kids are okay except for some cuts and bruises, and a broken wrist that the oldest endured trying to shield the youngest, who was still strapped safely into her car seat when the ambulance arrived.  Because of the force of the collision, all the pups will be staying overnight at Lawrence General as a precaution in case of concussion, along with their parents. 

Probably the most difficult task of the afternoon is keeping the kids calm once they can get past the shock of what’s happening.  The scene becomes something of a spectacle, with police cars and a fire truck nearby just in case.  Both parents will likely make a full recovery, but that doesn’t help the kids right now.  Luckily Garth has a real talent with pups.  Dean and Alfie are able to work on the Alpha while Garth can use his natural goofiness to help keep the two under ten relaxed and treat the teen’s broken wrist at the same time. 

It’s a tense afternoon, but Dean sees the family safely to the emergency room, and beyond.  Hospitals tend to be understaffed for emergencies like this, and it feels like Dean is starting to follow his calls further and further into the ER every day.  Fortunately there are no other serious calls, and the team can take their time.  They don’t return to dispatch until five, where the relief crew is already waiting to handle any more long calls. 

At six fifteen Dean knocks on his own front door, too tired to dig his key out of his bag.  He can’t wait to get out of his starched uniform and into a hot shower.  

Dean’s pleasantly surprised when Benny answers, even though dinner is just getting started at _Baton Rouge_. 

“Baby,” Dean says, greeting his mate with a kiss, “Am I glad to see you.  Everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” Benny replies, wrapping his arms around Dean for another kiss.  His mate’s scent is calm, but Dean can see the tightness around his eyes.  It’s been a long day for everyone, apparently.

“They were in ‘til noon,” Benny tells Dean as he leaves his bag by the door, “And Liz has been on the back porch ever since.”

“Who’s at the restaurant?” Dean asks, kicking off his boots. 

“Zeke,” Benny says, “I did lunch, but he sent me home after I burned three entrées.  He knows something’s up, but he won’t ask.”

“We really owe that guy a raise,” Dean muses, “Did Cas tell you anything?”

“I didn’t,” Castiel speaks up.  Dean jumps as his friend emerges from the kitchen with a beer in hand.  Castiel is still wearing his suit from the office.  Now that Dean looks around he can see his usual trench coat hanging on their coat rack.

“Apologies,” Cas continues, “Elizabeth wanted me to be here when she made her decision.  She also made me an excellent sandwich.  I hope you don’t mind us invading your fridge.”

“That’s cool, Cas,” Dean says, “This is why we gave Liz a key.  You should stick around for dinner, too, if you don’t have any meetings or anything.”

“I’m free,” Castiel shrugs, “Mrs. Tate was happy to reschedule her estate evaluation this morning when she heard I was helping a friend.”

“We owe you, brother,” Benny says as Dean drops onto the couch, exhausted from the long day.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Castiel demurs, “Though I am eager to hear what you’re making for dinner.”

Dean and Benny’s laughter is cut off by the _thwip_ of the sliding glass back door opening.  Benny’s niece pokes her head in the back door and the three men fall silent. 

“Dean, you’re home,” Elizabeth says with a smile. 

“Sure am,” Dean responds, “How’re you feelin’?”

“Better,” Elizabeth says.  There is an awkward moment of quiet in the room as Elizabeth shifts, uncertain. 

“Uncle Benny,” Elizabeth asks, “Can I talk to you for a minute?  Outside?”

It’s natural for Elizabeth to want to see Benny first, Dean tries to reason as Benny follows his niece outside.  Benny is Elizabeth’s real family after all.  That doesn’t stop his hands from shaking as Castiel takes a seat next to him on the couch.

“I imagine it’s been a trying couple of days for the three of you,” Castiel says.  Dean shrugs.

“I’m fine,” he insists, “Me and Benny have nothing to worry about, not really.”

That’s a load of shit, says Castiel’s flat expression. 

“I did my best to make sure Elizabeth understands what’s going to happen,” Castiel explains, “What her choices are, and what the process would be once she made her decision.” 

“Don’t tell me anything you’re not supposed to,” Dean tells Cas, “Client-lawyer confidentiality and all that.  I get it.”

“No, she wanted me to tell you,” Castiel says, “While she talks to Benny.  She was nervous about what you both would think.  She doesn’t want you to feel obligated to her in any way.”

Dean waits.  Castiel looks solemn, but that’s pretty standard for Cas.  He’s a hard guy to get a read on.

“Dean,” Castiel begins, picking at his beer label, “The obvious option here, which I’m assuming you and Benny have considered-“

“Don’t,” Dean cuts him off, “Don’t say it.  Please.”  Just the thought of what Cas might say makes Dean’s throat tight and his eyes burn.

“But you and Benny-“

“We haven’t talked about it,” Dean repeats.  They haven’t talked about a sweet pup with Benny’s auburn hair and blue eyes that could be here in time for Christmas.  They _haven’t_ talked about it.

“Oh.  Well.”  Castiel looks briefly concerned, but he continues.  “Elizabeth brought it up right away.  And it’s what she’s talking to your mate about right now.”

Before Cas has finished his sentence Dean’s whipping his head around to find Elizabeth and Benny.  He spots them through the sliding glass doors just in time to see his mate, his _Alpha_ , burst into tears in their backyard.

“As long as you have a contract,” Castiel explains from behind him, “You can cover Elizabeth and the pup on your insurance under surrogacy laws.  Elizabeth can process her pregnancy in a healthy way and in the end you and Benny get to become parents.  It’s the best solution for everyone.”

Dean’s hardly listening to his friend.  He’s moving, tugging open the back door and stumbling down the porch steps like a man possessed.  Benny is a wreck, but his scent isn’t bitter with distress.  It’s full and rich and it nearly blurs Dean’s senses.  Benny is _happy_.

Dean drops to his knees in front of his mate’s niece.  Water from the ground is seeping into his uniform pants.  His socks are probably ruined.  Dean’s throat works, but he can’t get any words out as he stares at Elizabeth.  They haven’t talked about it.  They haven’t dared. 

Benny’s hands fall to his shoulders, and the grounding touch from his mate gives Dean courage.

“Is it true, Lizzie?” he asks hoarsely, taking Elizabeth’s hands, “What Cas just told me.  Is it true?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth says with a smile, eyes as red as her uncle’s, “Dean, if you're both willing, I want you and Benny to have this pup.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This picks up immediately where we left off. Time to make some plans!

“Oh my god.”  Dean can only gasp and press his forehead to his niece’s hands.  “My god, Liz.”

“I don’t want y’all to feel obligated to me,” Elizabeth tells them, “If you want to do a regular adoption through a service, or have a real surrogate so the pup can be yours biologically-“

“No!” Dean exclaims, “No, it’s perfect.  No pup could be more perfect.”

His voice cracks on the last syllable.  God, now _he’s_ crying too.  Dean has to grab Benny’s hand still on his shoulder.  Benny winds their fingers together and squeezes tight.

“Darlin’,” Benny finally finds his voice, “We didn’t want you to feel obligated to _us_.  That’s the only reason we didn’t say anything from the very beginning.”

“We’d be honored,” Dean says, “Elizabeth we’d be so honored to adopt your pup.”

“Then he’s yours,” Elizabeth concludes, laughing, “Or she.  Who knows, right?”

Dean laughs.  The anxiety that had twisted him into knots for the past few days, hell, for the past _year_ of trying to adopt, snaps like a rubber band and he just has to laugh.  He finally climbs up off his knees and pulls Elizabeth into a bear hug, rainwater soaked knees be damned.  Benny fits them both into his embrace and it’s perfect.  Dean breathes in Elizabeth’s sweet pregnancy smell and he knows that somewhere in the saccharine bouquet is the scent of their unborn pup.  

“Thank you,” Dean blubbers, pressing his lips to Elizabeth’s hair, “Thank you so much.”

Dean’s going to be a father.  He and Benny are going to be _parents._ There has never been a moment in Dean’s life so wonderful since his own mating. 

“So I assume you’ve worked it out,” Castiel calls from the back porch.  Dean manages to extricate one hand from their group hug in order to give his friend a big thumbs up. 

“Excellent.”  There is a beat of silence before Castiel interrupts their family moment a second time. 

“So have we come to any conclusions on dinner?”

At the mention of food Dean’s stomach gurgles, loud in the quiet moment.  Dean had pretty much forgotten about the twelve hour shift he’s just gotten through with, but his body is happy to give him a rude reminder in the middle of a life-changing moment.  He groans, but Benny and Elizabeth just laugh.

Eventually the Winchester-Lafitte family members manage to untangle themselves so that events can move back to the kitchen.  Benny puts on a pot of white rice and pulls out the ingredients for spicy beef stir fry.  While the cooking gets underway Castiel goes back into lawyer mode. 

“So we have a primary informal agreement,” Castiel begins, taking a seat at the table, “Elizabeth has agreed to carry her pregnancy to full term, deferring her enrollment in the Cordon Bleu in Chicago until the spring semester.  Dean and Benny, you agree to adopt Elizabeth’s pup, support her through her pregnancy and take primary custody of the pup as soon as it’s born.”

“Sounds about right, brother,” Benny says, pulling a large non-stick wok out of the cupboard.  Dean grins at his mate.  Even Cas’ dry legal jargon can’t take the excitement out of Dean’s belly. 

“What happens next,” Castiel continues, “Is a binding legal document to that same effect.  It sounds ominous, but the adoption/surrogacy contract is going to protect all three of you, and your unborn pup, and it’s a good opportunity for you all to communicate about your expectations.  I’m happy to ‘represent’ both parties here, but if any of you want a separate lawyer I won’t take it personally.”

“I trust you, Castiel,” Elizabeth says, pulling ginger and soy sauce out of the fridge for Benny before joining Castiel at the kitchen table, “How about you, Dean?”

“We’re good,” Dean shrugs, speaking for himself and his mate.  Benny waves his agreement from the island behind them.

“Okay,” Castiel says, opening his laptop, “It’ll take me a few days to draw up a formal contract, but there are a few big questions you can probably answer right now that will give me somewhere to start.”

“Shoot,” Dean prompts, and Benny hums his agreement where he’s slicing up skirt steak. 

“I think a primary issue to address is the pup’s biological Alpha,” Castiel says to Elizabeth. 

“I already talked to Aiden,” Elizabeth explains, “After I got the confirmation from Jody.  And he wants to help but as long as Dean and Benny are willing he doesn’t want to interfere with an adoption.”

“Excellent,” Castiel says, making a note, “We’ll need to get that in writing, obviously.  Your friend will have to sign off on his parental rights the same as you.”

“We’ll sign anything you want,” Elizabeth promises, “As far as I’m concerned this pup is already Dean and Benny’s.”   

Dean reaches across the table to ruffle Elizabeth’s hair, affection bubbling in his chest. 

“Next,” Cas continues, “Dean and Benny, I’m guessing you want to be present for all medical appointments after this point.”

“Definitely,” Dean says, “At least one of us anyway, so we know Liz is alright, and definitely both of us for the milestone appointments.  Okay?”

“Of course,” Elizabeth agrees, “Jody already scheduled me for Wednesday morning to do a full exam, so whoever wants to come along.  There won’t be much pup stuff yet, but we’ll be able to figure out a rough due date.”

“I’ve got Wednesday off,” Dean says with a wink, “So it’s a date.”

“Speaking of medical appointments, I assume you and Benny will be financing the pregnancy, and the pup’s birth,” Castiel guesses.

“Yup,” Dean confirms, “Like you said, my insurance will cover Elizabeth and the pup, and me and Benny will handle the co-pays out of pocket.”

“Make sure we’re covering all of Elizabeth’s expenses too,” Benny chimes in, tossing vegetables and skirt steak in the sizzling pan, “Clothes, groceries, vitamins, the whole shebang.”

“And her rent,” Dean adds, “Starting with the next month due.”

“Dean,” Elizabeth admonishes, “That’s too much.”

“We’ve been saving for this day for years,” Dean tells her, “Covering your apartment for few months is the least we can do for you, Lizzie, especially once it gets harder for you to work.”

“Damn right,” Benny agrees, “You put your paychecks toward school, and let us worry about everything else.  You’re making a big sacrifice for us, honey, and we’re gonna make sure you’re taken care of.”

“So I’ll start with a clause for blanket financial support for Elizabeth,” Castiel concludes from their brief debate, “And we can fine tune from there.” 

“Um,” Elizabeth interjects, “There’s something else I want the contract to say, and you probably know the right language for this Castiel better than me, but I don’t want the pup to know me as their mother at all.”

“Of course,” Castiel agrees, squinting, “Like I said, you’ll sign off on your maternal rights when we finalize the paperwork-“

“But I mean more in a personal way,” Elizabeth continues, “Dean and Benny will be the pup’s parents, so y’all can explain this whole situation to them however you think best, but if I see the pup after it’s yours-“

“Of course you will,” Benny tells her, looking perturbed that his niece would think otherwise.

“I’d like that,” Elizabeth says, “But when I do see the pup, I want them to know me as Cousin Elizabeth, not ‘mom’ or ‘mama’ or anything like that.  I know we don’t really need a piece of paper to spell that out, but it’ll help me keep things straight to see it written down.  I know pregnancy hormones are nothing to mess with, and it’ll be easier for me to move on afterwards if I can keep things like that official.”

“Whatever you need,” Dean agrees, “I’m sure Benny’s with me when I say we want this to be an open situation.  Elizabeth is always welcome with us, and that won’t change after the pup is born.  Whatever distance you need, Liz, when the time comes, won’t hurt our feelings, but don’t stay away because you think we don’t want you around.” 

“Amen,” Benny seconds, “Now who’s hungry?”

Legal talk gets put aside in favor of dinner.  Dean pours everybody a glass of iced tea from the pitcher in the fridge while Benny pulls plates from the cupboard and Elizabeth grabs forks.  Castiel just stays out of the way, returning his laptop to its case in time to receive a generous plate of food. 

“I gotta call Sammy,” Dean declares, “He’s never gonna believe this.”

“Go ahead, _cher_ ,” Benny agrees, setting down a steaming dish of stir fry in front of Dean, along with a shaker full of red pepper flakes, “We should decide who else we want to know.  We won’t find out how far along Lizzie is until Wednesday, so we might not want to shout it from the rooftops just yet.”

“Well, Cas knows, obviously,” Elizabeth says, taking her own plate from Dean’s mate.

“You can count on me to be discreet,” Castiel promises around a forkful of beef and snow peas.

“We don’t doubt you,” Dean says, “We should probably tell Zeke soon too, before we give the poor guy a heart attack.”

“Good point,” Benny agrees, then hesitantly, “What about your mom, Lizzie?”

Elizabeth’s expression and scent go slightly bitter at the mention of her mother and Benny’s sister.  Most of Benny’s family was not particularly friendly to his same designation preference.  It was one of the primary reasons he had moved to Kansas after school rather than stay in Louisiana.  His family’s opinions hadn’t changed once Benny and Dean mated.  If anything, they’d only gotten more antagonistic.  When Elizabeth decided to come and study with her uncle it was at the expense of most of those relative’s good opinion of her as well, and her mother was no exception.  Dean knows Benny feels a lot of guilt about causing a rift between Elizabeth and her parents, but as far as Dean’s concerned his niece is better off. 

“I’ll tell her,” Elizabeth decides after a minute, “But as long as I don’t go home and embarrass her I don’t think she’ll particularly want to concern herself with any of it.  If you feel different it’s alright, but I’m not eager to have anybody from home involved, Benny.”

“Fair enough, darlin’,” Benny nods, “Anybody else?”

“I think everyone else can wait,” Elizabeth suggests, “Three months is the usual time to start making announcements, and I might not be that far off from there, anyway.  My last Heat should have been a month ago, so who knows.”

“It’s a plan,” Dean says, “We’ll wait ‘til three months, though my money says at least Charlie is gonna guess before then.”

“I’m betting on Ash,” Benny disagrees, “That boy’s got a weird sixth sense about that shit.”

“I’m betting Victor will figure it out,” Castiel chimes in, “Most likely because Dean is incapable of keeping a secret.”

“Screw you, Cas,” Dean laughs, “You’re just smug because you got to be the first to know.”

“That is accurate,” Castiel agrees with a half smile.  He raises his glass in a toast. 

“To the Winchester-Lafittes,” Castiel offers.

“To Elizabeth.” Dean raises his own glass, and Benny raises his in agreement.

“To Dean and Benny,” Elizabeth counters, “I couldn’t ask for a better family, and I can’t wait to help make yours a little bigger.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought we were due for a little vulnerability from our strong Alphas.

Cas heads home after dinner, along with Elizabeth.  She’s eager to return to her own apartment after the excitement of the last few days and process.  Dean calls Sam, which leads to a long conversation, with Jess interjecting frequently from across the other line. 

“I told you, Dean,” Sam says at the end of their call, grin nearly audible through the speaker, “It’s not exactly what we had in mind, but you and Benny were meant to be parents.”

“I guess you were right, Sammy,” Dean admits, “Don’t make a habit of it.”

They toss a few half-hearted jabs back and forth before Dean hangs up and goes to find Benny.  It’s barely nine, and his mate is already in bed with another book.  Dean doesn’t bother with pajamas, just tugs off his uniform and stays in his boxers.

“Sam says ‘hi’,” Dean says, crawling into bed next to his mate, “Also ‘congrats’.”

“Oh yeah?”  Benny takes off his reading glasses and puts them aside, leaning up on his elbow to face him.

“Yeah.”  Dean can’t stop smiling, and his mate is no different.  This whole week has been one surreal trip, and here they are on the other side.  Dean laughs, resting their foreheads together.  Benny clasps Dean’s face in his open palm.

“We’re gonna have a pup,” Dean whispers, “Fuck, Benny.  Our very own pup.”

“At long last.” Benny tips his chin up until their lips can meet. 

A few light and smiling kisses turn into more, and Dean and Benny tussle playfully until Dean is pinned to the mattress under Benny’s warm weight.  Benny growls, sucking a hickey against Dean’s mating mark before rising up on his elbows.  He gazes down on Dean, blue eyes equally proud and loving.  Dean’s breath catches in his chest.  Dean catches hold of Benny’s biceps, then slides his grip up, until his mate’s beard is scratching at his fingertips.

A thought flickers into Dean’s head, and he knows he’s gotta say it right now, before they get too lost in the physical.  

“We woulda been just fine, you and me,” Dean murmurs, holding his mate’s face in his hands, “You know that, right Benny?  Pups or no pups, there’s not a thing on this earth that could take me away from you.”

His words must stir something up because to Dean’s surprise Benny’s expression flickers into something pained.  Before Dean can stop it a fat tear drips down Benny’s cheek.

“Hey,” Dean soothes his mate, “Baby, it’s alright.” 

Despite Dean’s assurances, the tears won’t stop, and Benny tries to pull away, wiping at his face with a half hearted chuckle.  Dean’s having none of that. 

“Don’t you go anywhere on me, Benny.”  At the stern edge of Dean’s voice his mate goes as docile as a newborn pup, his guarded display of Alpha strength vanished.  He lets Dean tug them both up the bed until Dean can lie against the headboard, arranging Benny against him so that they’re lying chest to chest.  Benny doesn’t hesitate to bury his face in Dean’s neck and draw comfort from their mated scent, the bitter salt of Benny’s tears still stinging Dean’s nose.  He holds his mate until Benny’s shoulders stop shaking and he can draw a steady breath. 

“Tell me what’s going on in that head of yours, Alpha,” Dean murmurs, dragging his fingers through Benny’s short, bristly hair, “’Cause you gotta know that you’re it for me.”

Benny drags his large, rough hands delicately up and down Dean’s sides. 

“I never doubted you, _cher_ ,” Benny promises, snuffling wetly into Dean’s neck, “I just wanted to stop you from hurting, and I couldn’t.  We both wanted a pup so bad.  I didn’t want you to know how scared I was that it would never happen.”

Dean’s own eyes sting as he presses a kiss into his mate’s hair.  He drags his lips down Benny’s temple and across his wet, salty cheeks.  Dean drags his hands across his mate’s strong shoulders, his broad chest, and over the healthy pad of fat covering his belly.  He breathes in Benny’s scent and it smells like home, just like it has for the last seven years. 

“I love you, so much,” Dean says, resting their foreheads together again, “There’s nobody who could take care of me like you do.  There’s nobody I could even _think_ about raising a family with besides you, and even now, baby, if it doesn’t work out for us, if something goes wrong and we never get to have pups, there’s nobody I could make it through that with except you.  ‘Cause when I’m hurting, Benny, you’re the _only_ one who makes it better.”

A blush heats Dean’s cheeks as he finishes his little speech, but he doesn’t break Benny’s gaze.  His mate has been so strong for him, the least Dean can do is put aside his own holdups and share Benny’s vulnerability for a few minutes together. 

Benny’s blue eyes are red rimmed, but after a few seconds he gives Dean a shaky smile. 

“My True Mate,” he murmurs, voice husky, “ _Mon cher, j’taime.”_

Dean smiles at his mate before dipping in to take Benny’s mouth in a kiss.  It’s tender, but claiming, and Benny accepts Dean’s unusual display of dominance.  With fingers digging into taut muscle they roll until it’s Benny being pinned to the mattress and Dean between his thighs. 

The next few minutes are a primal blur of slick fingers, tight, wet heat, and deep rumbling growls.  Soon enough Dean is pushing inside his mate, Benny’s thick thighs curled around his hips and his hands wrapped tight around the sturdy bars of their headboard. 

“ _Alpha_ ,” Benny groans into Dean’s neck, “Oh, god, _Dean_.”

“I’ve got you,” Dean promises, grinding deep, “Shh, Benny.  I’ve got you.”

Emotions and pheromones are high.  Dean feels like he’s hardly been inside his mate a minute before his knot is swelling, locking their bodies together.  He comes inside Benny with a ragged moan. 

“ _Mate_ ,” Dean grunts, wrapping his hand around Benny’s cock and bringing him off with a few firm strokes.  Benny groans and curses, clenching down around Dean’s knot as he comes white over Dean’s fist.  Dean pants, animalistic triumph at satisfying his mate slowly trickling back down to gentler thoughts.  He nuzzles at Benny’s chest, the soft hair sprinkled over his pectorals tickling at Dean’s nose.  Benny releases their headboard in favor of dragging his hands through Dean’s sweaty hair.

“Hm,” Benny muses, words slurred with pleasure, “S’been a while since I’ve been on this end of things.”

Dean grins into his mate’s neck.  “That’s ‘cause I like bein’ underneath you too much, Alpha,” he admits. 

“I can see why,” Benny hums, locking his muscled arms around Dean’s back.  Dean moans as the motion shifts his knot inside Benny.

“Feels like I’m takin’ care of you,” Benny explains, “In its own way.”

Dean kisses Benny’s mating scar.  “Yeah,” he agrees. 

They scent and snuggle until Dean’s knot goes down.  Somewhere in that time he and Benny both seem to remember the excitement of that afternoon, before they got wound up over yesterday’s worries.  Dean doesn’t regret the opportunity for catharsis, but he’s looking forward to what comes next.

They’ve got a pup on the way.

“We’ve got some big plans to make,” Benny says, blue eyes twinkling. 

Dean grins into the soft cotton of their bed sheets.

“I can’t wait.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my in-fic montage equivalent. Time for a little time to go by so that we can get to fun things ;) Enjoy!

Elizabeth’s first official appointment with Jody goes smoothly.  At this stage it’s less about the pup and more like a standard gynecology appointment, so Dean waits on the other side of a curtain while Jody does an examination of all of Elizabeth’s essential equipment.  Dean’s not squeamish, he’s a medical professional, for god’s sake, but he figures at this point they can afford to spare Elizabeth a little modesty before the big show arrives.  Jody does a little math involving ovulation and Elizabeth’s last Heat and determines that she’s about twelve weeks along.  When he hears that, Dean breathes a sigh of relief.  They made it through the riskiest period of Elizabeth’s pregnancy without even knowing it.  The pup’s tentative due date is mid-November.

When they realize Elizabeth is already near the end of her first trimester, Dean calls Benny and his mate races over from lunch prep at the restaurant in time for Jody to set up the ultrasound machine.  They wait with baited breath as Jody spreads cool gel over Elizabeth’s nearly flat stomach and searches with the wand, moving careful and slow over Liz’ lower belly.  Dean can’t hold back his gasp when the static of the machine clears and the room is filled with the sound of the pup’s perfect steady heartbeat.   

“There’s our pup,” Jody says pointing to the sonogram screen.  Benny squeezes Dean’s hand so hard he thinks he might break his fingers but Dean’s squeezing right back because _that’s their pup_.  The black and white image is surreal and abstract but there’s-

“There’s the head,” Jody points out helpfully, indicating with her pen, “And you can see limbs coming along nicely, and even the beginnings of some perfect little fingers and toes.  They probably weigh about half an ounce at this point, so try to keep that scale in mind.”

“I thought we’d be looking at like a jellybean or something,” Dean confesses, awestruck, “And I was still freakin’ psyched.  Wow, just _look_ at her.” 

Jody ends up passing around a generous box of tissues to both expectant Alpha dads.  Elizabeth gets a little misty eyed as well, but she handles herself with a little more aplomb than Dean can manage, surrounded by the sound of his pup’s heartbeat.   

Once the gel is cleaned away Elizabeth pulls Dean and Benny in by the hand, and for the first time she places both their palms flat against her stomach.  There’s not much to feel, really, except a little firmness that’s out of place amid the softness of Elizabeth’s belly, but Dean is overwhelmed.  Their pup is growing; its little heart is beating, just under the palm of his hand.  Benny puts his other arm around Dean’s waist, and the Winchester-Lafitte’s enjoy their first moment as an almost-family.

The day after that first sonogram, Dean, Benny and Elizabeth sit down in Castiel’s office to finalize their contract.  It doesn’t sit right with Dean, being on opposite sides of a table with Elizabeth and negotiating every foreseeable detail of their exchange, but he knows it’s to protect all of them.  Especially given he and Benny’s same-designation status, it’s crucial that Castiel ensure their adoption/surrogacy agreement is airtight.  Dean’s not worried about Elizabeth so much as the dickheads on Capitol Hill that will probably try and fuck with his family at every bureaucratic turn.  This document Castiel is explaining will make sure the pup is safe with Dean and Benny and Elizabeth can go on with her professional aspirations unhindered.

Dean can admit his hand shakes when the time comes to actually sign the final draft.  He and Benny are taking full responsibility for the pup growing in Elizabeth’s belly, and it’s a prospect that’s as terrifying as it is exciting.  With his left hand entwined with Benny’s, Dean takes a deep breath and signs on the dotted line.  Elizabeth follows them, with an expression equally nervous and determined, and Castiel witnesses.  And just like that, Dean and Benny are parents-to-be.

For the next month, things fall into a bizarre state of normalcy.  Benny and Elizabeth return to their usual schedules at _Baton Rouge,_ albeit with a much more supportive staff _._ Charlie, Kevin, and Ash were excited to hear about the coming pup, and Zeke, once he knew Elizabeth was happy and onboard with the pregnancy, offered to help cover Benny and Liz for any time they would need for appointments and the like.  Because she is horrible at keeping secrets, Dean knows Charlie has already started brainstorming ideas for a shower.  He doesn’t mind.  As excited as everyone at the restaurant is, it doesn’t come close to how happy Dean and Benny are to finally have a pup of their own.  There are two copies of their first sonogram, one on their fridge at home, and one taped up above the expediting counter at _Baton Rouge_.

Dean’s on a twenty-four hour schedule at work, which means he works fewer days a week but his days on are brutal.  Working a full twenty-four hour day instead of a twelve hour one makes the weeks fly by, despite the longer time off in between.  It’s wreaking havoc with Dean’s sleeping patterns, but he’s trying to trade for as many twenty-four hour schedules as he can so he has more time at home once the pup comes. 

Their three days with Henry while Jess is in Heat go well, with only one or two of the tantrums that pepper the day-to-day existence of a toddler.  Dean and his mate spend most of the three days in a happy daze.  _This is going to be us_ , Dean thinks as they have story time, bath time, and bed time.  He knows Benny is thinking the same thing.  _This is going to be our new normal._   It’s an ecstatic state of constant nerves.

Elizabeth is handling her pregnancy well.  At four months, anyone looking to find it can see her slightly rounded stomach starting to pop under her growing collection of loose tunics and baby doll tops.  She’s been excused from lunch prep for the time being, since she spends much of her mornings lately nauseous and uncomfortable.  Dean and Benny were concerned, but Jody assured all three of them that morning sickness is normal for the first few months, as long as Elizabeth stays hydrated and gets the nutrients she needs.  Luckily even regular puking can’t put a damper on Elizabeth’s sunny disposition, and she’s at the restaurant every day, eager to help Benny as much as possible before, as she says, “she get’s too big to fit in the kitchen.”  Somewhere she finds a recipe for a mint ginger smoothie that finally settles her stomach, and soon Elizabeth is never without a to-go mug that smells of spice and seasonal fruit.  When Dean and Benny ask, Liz says Zeke gave her the recipe.

Another important task Elizabeth has been working on with Benny has been hiring a new sous chef to take her place.  Their hiring timetable is basically unchanged despite Elizabeth’s pregnancy.  Now instead of Elizabeth going to school in September, she’s going to be going on informal maternity leave before the baby is born in November.  Once she recovers Elizabeth will be able to help with the new hires until the spring semester starts in January and Benny is ready to go back to the restaurant full time.

From a business perspective, Dean can tell Elizabeth’s looming due date is making Benny very nervous.

“The truth is it’s too much, even with the three of us now,” Benny admits, sitting at the kitchen table with a stack of applications, “We’ve got a good system, but Zeke’s working himself into an early grave, and I’m gonna need more time at home when the pup comes.”

“Then maybe you need to think about bringing on more than one person,” Dean suggests, “Give Zeke a promotion so he can run the kitchen when you’re not there, and get two people to take his and Elizabeth’s places.”

Benny mulls that over while Dean serves up spicy summer vegetable soup and fresh baked corn bread.  He knows Benny is reluctant to give up control at _Baton Rouge_ , but his mate’s priority is their coming pup.  It’s Dean’s priority too, but he can’t afford to give up so much time at work.  He would love to stay home, but their growing family is going to be dependent on Dean’s benefits and his stable income.

“Then it’s settled,” Benny declares, after some thought, “A new sous chef, _and_ a line cook.”

“Sounds like a plan, Alpha,” Dean agrees. 

It’s early yet, but they’ve already been batting some names back and forth.  Dean wants to know the pup’s sex ASAP.  He doesn’t give a damn about “waiting for the surprise.”  Hopefully the pup will be cooperative for Jody’s sonogram wand for their twenty-week appointment. 

Gender expression and designation and all that can come later, but right now Dean and Benny are up to their ears in nesting instincts and nowhere to direct them until they at least have a starting point for the pup’s nursery.  For Dean, that will probably be the pup’s name. 

There’s a list on their fridge of names that they will definitely _not_ be giving their pup, boy or girl.  It’s grown pretty lengthy over the course of the month, mostly because Dean and Benny are having a good time adding to it.  The list, which is now three sheets long, is filled with exes, mean family members, old high school adversaries, and reality TV villains.  Dean’s dad is on the list, along with Benny’s sister and both of their high school English teachers. 

The other list on the fridge is much shorter, and features a lot of cross outs and question marks.  _Mary_ is on that list, with a question mark, along with _Michael_ and _Isaac_ and _Alice_.  _Etienne_ is crossed out, and so are _Deanna_ and _Benjamin_ , at each mate’s insistence _._   They offered Elizabeth the opportunity to contribute to the naming process, but she declined, saying she preferred to wait and hear what Dean and Benny choose.

“We’ve got time, _cher_ ,” Benny reminds Dean when he finds him standing paralyzed in front of the refrigerator, pen in hand.  He wraps his arms around Dean’s waist and tucks his chin over his shoulder. 

“I just want it to be perfect,” Dean explains, leaning back into Benny’s weight.  Benny kisses Dean’s neck.

“It will be,” Benny says before plucking the pen from Dean’s hand and adding _Desmond_ to the list of hard “no’s”.  Dean looks at his mate curiously. 

“Interviewed him today,” Benny explains, “It didn’t work out so well.”

Dean sighs. 

“Well there go all my _Lost_ plans.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a quick chapter. More to come!

“He’s beautiful, Jody.”

“Thanks,” Jody beams.  They’re back in the OB-GYN’s office, scrolling through photos of Jody and Donna’s two week old son, Max, on her phone.  There a few of a clearly exhausted Donna grinning triumphantly at the camera with a red, sticky newborn clinging to her chest, a few of the pup with Jody wrapped in various animal eared blankets and a couple of sleeping Max being held by a dark haired older girl who must be Jody and Donna’s adopted daughter Alex. 

“He’s a handsome fella,” Benny agrees with Elizabeth.  Already it looks like pup Max is taking after his mothers, with warm brown eyes and fuzzy reddish-brown hair.

“Maximilian,” Dean comments, “You don’t hear that one too often.”

“Donna’s grandfather,” Jody explains, “She was adamant, and I never argue with an Omega in labor.  I figure she’s earned naming privileges at that point.”

“So the birth went smoothly?” Dean asks. 

“It was an event,” Jody admits, “Home births are no joke, but everybody’s healthy.”

“How’s Donna holding up?” Dean wonders, “She’s gotta be exhausted.”

“Oh, Donna’s fine,” Jody says, rolling her eyes, “She’s at home for another month with a pup and Alex waiting on her hand and foot while I languish at the office.  She’s got it all figured out.  We don’t even have to leave the house to do her post-partum checkups.”

“That sounds like Donna,” Dean laughs.

“Take it from me boys,” Jody says, voice dry, “When your mate tells you she doesn’t want to see a separate obstetrician, don’t say yes, no matter how much she bats her damn eyelashes.”

“Duly noted,” Benny rumbles, a twinkle in his eye.

“Now,” Jody segues, putting her phone away, “Enough about my family, let’s get a look at yours.”

That turns everyone’s attention back to Elizabeth, who at twenty weeks is starting to look undoubtedly pregnant, even to the untrained eye.  She’s given up on regular pants entirely, at this point, after enough uncomfortable days at the restaurant in unforgiving denim.  Liz and Dean had taken an interesting trip to a maternity store on one of their overlapping days off a few weeks ago, a quick search for elastic waist pants and some stretchy t-shirts before anyone noticed Elizabeth’s lack of mating mark or she and Dean’s mismatched scents and started to ask questions.

Elizabeth rolled down the waist of her roomy leggings now, exposing the rounding shape of her pregnant belly so that Jody could measure the pup’s growth.  The sight of their increasingly pregnant niece filled Dean with worry and excitement.  He could tell carrying their pup was starting to take more of a toll on Elizabeth physically, and yet every day they were getting closer and closer to bringing their sweet boy or girl home for good.  Dean reaches for Benny’s hand, sitting beside him on two of the extra chairs Jody keeps in her office.

“So how are things going?” Jody asks as she stretches her measuring tape from Elizabeth’s pubic bone to the top of her stomach, “Anything bothering you, physically?  Aches or pains?”

“Nothing unusual,” Elizabeth answers, “My feet are starting to hurt more when I’m standing for a long time, and my back.  We’ve been cutting back on my work time during service, and I’m doing more prep work, so I can sit down if I get tired.”

“That’s fine,” Jody allows, making a note in her file, “As long as you’re listening to your body’s signals.  If you’re feeling worn out don’t push through, take a break.  Are you taking your vitamins?”

“Every morning,” Elizabeth promises, “I take ‘em with my smoothies before I go in for lunch prep.”

“And what’s in your smoothies?” Jody asks, gently examining Elizabeth’s bared stomach with her hands, “Not too much sugar or salt?”

“Fruit mostly,” Elizabeth explains, “A little honey, ginger, and a lot of mint.  I started drinking them when I still had morning sickness and now I’m addicted.”

“That sounds like a good diet supplement for you, actually,” Jody admits, “You’re putting on healthy weight, by the looks of it.  But the morning sickness is settling down?”

“I haven’t been sick at all for a week or so.”

“Good,” Jody declares, “Everything on the outside is looking great.  You’re fundal height is right on track at twenty and a half centimeters, no serious swelling at your hands and feet, and your blood pressure is fine.  Elizabeth is a very healthy Omega.”

“Great job, Liz,” Dean congratulates her, offering his mate’s niece a fist bump.

“Now,” Jody continues, wheeling out the ultrasound machine, “Let’s see if pup Winchester-Lafitte feels like showing off today.”

Benny squeezes Dean’s hand, the anticipation clear in his eyes.  Jody starts by searching for the pup’s heartbeat with her stethoscope before smearing Elizabeth’s belly with gel and pulling out the sonogram wand. 

“Have you felt any movement yet?” Jody asks as she adjusts the settings on the machine.

“I think so,” Elizabeth admits, blushing, “It’s kind of hard to tell the difference between a pup wiggle and regular stomach rumblings.”

“You’ll start feeling the difference soon,” Jody assures her, “Five months is the starting point for pup movement, so don’t worry if you haven’t felt much yet.”

“Will we be able to feel the pup kick soon?” Benny asks as Jody starts moving the ultrasound device over Elizabeth’s belly.

“Maybe,” Jody says, “Every pup is different, but there’s usually some serious moving around by six or seven months.  …And here we are.”

Dean and Benny both look to the screen where the image of their growing pup is displayed.  Jody turns on the speakers so they can hear the heartbeat, louder and stronger than ever.

“She’s huge,” Dean breathes, thinking of the small pup-like image they have taped to their refrigerator.  This looks like a pup ready to be born, with easily distinguishable facial features and fingers and toes and even a round, chubby belly.  The pup shifts, rolling towards the screen, and Dean and Benny both gasp. 

“Oof, I felt that,” Elizabeth admits, resting a hand high on her belly. 

“She loves the camera,” Jody says with a smile.

“She?” Benny asks, “So it’s really-“

“A girl,” Jody confirms, pointing to the lack of extra genitals in the sonogram image, “Congrats, boys.  You’re bringing home a little lady.”

Dean grabs Elizabeth’s hand across the small space and wraps his arm around his mate’s waist.  His cheeks hurt from smiling, and Benny looks just as ecstatic.

“Perfect,” Dean declares, pressing a kiss to his niece’s hand and a more amorous smooch to Benny’s mouth, “She’s absolutely perfect.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one! This one is really meant to go together with chapter 13.

Dean works a twenty-four hour shift the next day, six AM to six AM.  It’s a slow day, which doesn’t bother him.  Dean tapes up their latest sonogram in his locker, tracing the shape of his daughter’s limbs with a finger tip.  His and Benny’s growing pup weighs almost ten ounces, according to Jody.  Elizabeth is right on schedule for her due date in November, which means the pup’s arrival is only four months away.

Dean spends most of his shift on his bunk, absently scrolling through baby naming websites on his phone.  Now that they know they’re having a little girl, picking a name has risen to the top of their long to-do list.   

Part of Dean really wants to name the pup after his mom, and he knows Benny wouldn’t object if Dean made his case.  He’s hesitant, though.  Mary Winchester died in a house fire when Dean was only four and it shaped his life, positively and negatively.  His Omega mother’s death is what eventually inspired Dean to get his EMT certification, but it was also pushed his Alpha father down the slippery slope to alcoholism, which had a lasting impact on Dean and his brother, physically and mentally.  Against all odds Dean and Sam both eventually managed to move on from their violent past and settle into healthy and loving relationships.  Dean will always love his mom, but he’s not sure he wants his pup to have to carry such a sharp reminder of his loss and subsequent trauma.  Dean and Benny’s pup is their future, and Dean wants his pup’s name to reflect that.

With that in mind, Dean mentally crosses “Mary” off the list on their fridge and goes back to the drawing board.

There are only three code two’s for the rest of Dean’s shift and he actually gets to sleep through the night before he gets off at six the next morning.  Dean gets home and showers in time to crawl into bed with Benny and doze for another hours.  He burrows into their blankets, wrapping his arm around Benny’s middle and burying his nose in his mate’s neck, inhaling Benny’s earthy scent. 

When Dean next wakes up it’s to an empty bed, but the air is filled with the sounds and smells of crackling bacon.  Benny’s flipping spinach and cheese omelets when Dean emerges from the bedroom, and the pair of mates enjoy a quiet breakfast before it’s time for Benny to head to the restaurant for lunch prep with Elizabeth.  Dean has the day off, so he tags along for the morning.

When Dean and Benny arrive at _Baton Rouge_ around nine-thirty, the kitchen is filled with the heady scent of almond and sugar.  Elizabeth is bustling around the small space with an apron over her rounded belly, lining up parchment paper sheets of tiny cookies fresh from the oven.  Benny looks over the rows of shell shaped miniature cakes with hardly concealed approval.  Dean assumes it must be a difficult recipe.

“Morning, darlin’,” Benny calls, catching his niece’s attention, “Been here long?”

Elizabeth jumps with a sieve full of powdered sugar when she finally notices them and seems to realize the scale of her baking operation.  The almond cookies cover almost the entire prep counter.  Elizabeth must have used a bulk sized recipe.

“Sorry,” Elizabeth apologizes with a blush, “I had a craving.  I figured we could run a little dessert special for the rest?”

“No problem,” Benny agrees readily, “They look perfect.  Have we got any berries in the cooler?  We might whip up a little compote to go on the side.” 

“I’ll check,” Elizabeth promises.  She dusts one tray of cookies with powdered sugar and sets the rest aside. 

“You should try one, Dean,” Liz encourages him, indicating the finished tray, “I’m probably gonna eat the rest anyway.  I could use an objective palate.”

“Don’t twist my arm,” Dean teases, picking up one of the cookies, “What are these called?  I feel like I’ve seen them in one of Benny’s books.”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth agrees, “Benny taught me how to make ‘em when we still lived at home.  They’re called madeleines.”

Elizabeth heads for the fridge while Dean stares at the perfect little French dessert in his hand. 

“Benny.”

“Hm _?”_ Benny’s tying a clean white apron around his waist.  Dean just holds the delicate shell shaped cake up for him to see.  Benny’s brow furrows in confusion before his eyes widen.

“You mean-“

“Why not?” Dean poses, “It’s French, it’s feminine; it’s got a little culinary sparkle to it.  We could call her Maddy, when she’s little.”

“Maddy,” Benny repeats, eyes going soft, “ _Cher_ , I love it.”

“Liz,” Dean says, still smiling at his mate, “It looks like you helped pick the name after all.”

“What?” Elizabeth asks, returning from the cooler with a pallet of raspberries, “Oh, that’s perfect!”

“Then I guess it’s settled,” Benny muses, joining Dean back at the counter.  Dean hums his agreement, offering the first bite of his cookie to Benny.  His mate accepts, then kisses Dean with lips that are powdered sugar sweet. 

“Madeline,” Dean declares, “Madeline Elizabeth.  Our sweet girl.”


	15. Chapter 15

“What about this one?  It matches the coat, see?”

“Mm, that’s nice, _cher_.  Will it be too dark, though?”

“Nah, man.  You guys are doing white for all the fabric right?  That’ll brighten it right up.”

“Good point, Vic.  Cas?”

“From your description of the nursery, there will be plenty of natural light.  I think a darker color will make for a more dynamic space.”

“See?  This is why we brought you guys along.”

“I do think it bears reminding that in the _original_ book the girls’ coats were-“

“That’s one opinion too many, Cas.”

“I’m just trying to keep the narrative integrity-“

“Alright, boys.  I think this is the one.  Let’s go get some rollers.”

 

* * *

 

“Alright,” Victor prompts as they deposit their bags from the hardware store, “We may as well rip the band aid off before you two distract us with food.  Where’s the room we gotta paint?”

“About that,” Dean admits, “There may be a _little_ work to do before we can start painting.”

Benny’s promise of burgers had lured Victor and Cas to the hardware store and then over to Dean and Benny’s house to help transform one of their spare rooms into the pup’s nursery.  Dean and Benny bought their three bedroom ranch with the intention of having a family, but the long wait between then and now has resulted in two rooms full of junk.  The room intended for their coming pup started out as Benny’s “office” and is currently full of old cookbooks, unused furniture left over from their bachelor apartments, and box upon box of dusty holiday decorations. 

Castiel’s expression when Dean reveals the cluttered office is one of amused resignation.

“You lied,” he tells Dean flatly, “Your penance will be paid in beers.”

“Fair enough,” Dean agrees.  Victor just sighs and rolls up his sleeves. 

“So where is all this shit going?”

With the three men working and Benny cooking dinner, the room is emptied over the course of an hour.  Benny’s books end up in a pile in the living room to be sorted, Christmas decorations go to the garage for storage, and unwanted furniture goes on the curb.  Dean holds onto a low dresser and an end table that he thinks could be cute in the pup’s room once he refinishes them to match the planned theme. 

Thankfully the small bedroom has hardwood floors, like the rest of their house, so cleaning is a simple matter of dusting.  Victor and Cas go through a whole box of Swiffer cloths on the floor while Dean vacuums out the window ledges.  There are a few dings in the wall, probably from when Dean and Benny originally moved in, that get spackled so the putty can dry while they eat.  Dean runs a wet mop with a little Murphy’s Oil soap over the floors and then it’s time for dinner. 

When Benny makes burgers, he doesn’t mess around.  He cooks his ground chuck patties in a cast iron pan with bacon fat and caramelized onions.  The cast iron cooks like a flat top in a diner, Dean has learned, that seals in the juices and makes for the best crust.  He slices up the same fresh rolls they use at the restaurant and toasts them with a little butter, then chops up fresh lettuce tomato and onion.  Burgers go perfectly with the red beans and rice Benny put in the slow cooker that morning, which over the course of the day has turned into a rich and flavorful side dish.

Any complaints about his misleading invitation disappear as soon as Cas and Victor start eating, Dean observes with a grin. 

Dean eats his burger standing up, stealing forkfuls of spicy beans off Benny’s plate so he can finish ahead of the other guys and get a head start on taping off the window and door frames in the pup’s room.  Dean follows the edges of the room with the blue painter’s tape, lining the baseboards and carefully blocking off the electrical outlets and light switches.  He’s about halfway through when Cas, Victor and Benny join him with freshly unwrapped foam rollers and brushes. 

Benny does the honors of prying the lid off the paint bucket and mixing up the rich royal blue he and Dean had chosen at the store.  It’s a bit of a nontraditional choice, but Dean and Benny are going for a loose _Madeline_ theme in the nursery and the saturated blue color is the centerpiece.  They’ve already ordered a set of simple nursery furniture in a striking black lacquer as well as curtains and bed linens in white with a delicate ivy pattern. 

Benny pauses just before he sets a roller full of blue paint against the eggshell white wall.

“You sure about the color?” he asks Dean.  Dean swallows, wrapping his arm around Benny’s waist.  It’s nerve wracking, seeing the dark color in the white room, but he knows they chose right. 

“Go big or go home,” Dean jokes, and Benny laughs before making the first stroke on the bare wall.  Cas and Victor join in with rollers and brushes, and soon most of the room is deep blue.  Dean brings in an extra lamp from the living room once they lose the natural light.  He makes a mental note to make sure they buy a quality night light for the pup once she’s born.  The color looks great, but it definitely gets dark once the sun sets. 

Dean picks up a brush and helps Cas paint in the tight corner spaces while Benny and Victor finish up the large swaths of wall.  There are only a few mishaps that are easily cleaned off the floor with a wet paper towel.

In the end they all stand in the door way and admire a job well done.  The blue is beautiful, deep and calming.  Dean can already envision the delicate crib they ordered in the corner, with the sheer white canopy draping from the ceiling.  He lays his head on Benny’s shoulder, excited and happy.

“It looks great,” Victor congratulates them, “Can’t wait to see it all done up.”

“The furniture’s getting delivered in a few days,” Dean says lightly as they admire the clean space, “Whaddya say guys?  Same time next week?”

Cas and Victor both drop to the floor, paint spattered and worn out.  Castiel still has some blue tape in his hair.

“We’ll do it,” Victor declares after some groaning, pointing at Benny, “But you’re making _steak_.”


	16. Chapter 16

“Ready?” Benny asks as Dean cuts the Impala’s engine.

Charlie has been unsubtly nudging them to register at a few of the maternity and pup centric stores around town for the last week or so.  Dean’s never heard of this place, an upscale pup boutique nestled in a strip mall a few minutes out of town, but when Jess heard they were registering she insisted, via Sam, they had to check it out.  The parking lot isn’t crowded, but then again it’s ten AM on a Tuesday, so traffic is pretty light.

“I gotta bad feeling about this,” Dean declares as he and Benny get out of the car. 

“Take it as it comes, _cher_ ,” Benny advises, though Dean can scent his mate’s trepidation as they step through the front doors.  

Everything is pastel inside.  There’s generic lullaby music playing from the ceiling and some kind of synthetic pup-like perfume is wafting through the air.  It’s cute to the point of being creepy, in Dean’s opinion.  The walls, the floors, the displays, hell, even the people are pastel.  The two employees Dean can see are both fair skinned with soft blonde hair and pale sweaters over khaki pants or skirts.  They both stare at Dean and Benny for a rude amount of time before making themselves busy. 

“That’s a great start,” Dean mutters to himself as he and Benny wind their way to the front counter.

There’s a youngish man working at the counter folding receiving blankets.  He’s wearing a pink sweater over a shirt and tie with dress pants.  Dean can tell from his scent that he’s an Omega.  He doesn’t acknowledge Dean or Benny until they’re standing almost directly in front of him. 

“Can I help you?” the store employee asks them with a stiff smile. 

“Sure,” Dean says, “You guys do registering stuff, right?  Like where you make a wish list of stuff you need and other people come in and buy it for you?”

“Of course.  I’d be happy to help you look up a registry,” the male Omega offers, “Are you shopping for someone?”

“Yeah, ourselves,” Dean says, taking Benny’s hand, “We’ve got a pup due in November, and our friends have been bugging us to register somewhere.  We heard this was the place.”

Dean thinks the Omega’s eyes might bug out of his head.  Benny shifts beside him and for a second Dean almost thinks his mate is about to put a hand on Dean’s belly and fuck with their heads a little, but alas Benny is a much more compassionate man than he.

“We’re adopting,” Benny explains, somewhat unnecessarily, in Dean’s opinion.  It’s none of these people’s business where their pup is coming from; they oughta do their damn jobs.

“Right, obviously,” the man simpers at them, “I was actually about to go on my break, but I’m sure Hester here would _love_ to help you through the paperwork.  Hess?”

Dean can practically feel Hester’s glare against the back of his head.  She’s smiling when she comes around the counter, but Dean just chalks it up to her acting skills.  They just got handed off, and it wasn’t even subtle.  Dean side eyes Benny, who shakes his head subtly like he knows what Dean is thinking.  Dean blows out a breath.  Benefit of the doubt, he tries to remind himself.

“I can help you,” Hester offers magnanimously as her coworker escapes into a back room, “We have a short questionnaire for you to fill out, so other customers can find you in our registry and so we can help suggest products you might be interested in for your coming pup.”

“We came prepared for that actually,” Dean says with a grin, pulling a folded up computer printout from his pocket.  Hester eyes the wrinkled list disdainfully.

“I’m sure,” she says after a beat, “Can I get your names?”

They fill out a basic gamut of contact information, and some information on Madeline.  Name, gender, a few sentences describing their nursery.  Run of the mill stuff, in case anything they register for needs to be shipped or personalized.  Dean and Benny answer the questions, and Hester types the information into her fancy tablet.  It’s not the most comfortable Dean’s ever been, but nothing’s especially jarring until-

“Designation?” 

Dean pauses in the middle of unfolding his carefully researched list of pup equipment.  Hester’s pasted on smile is polite and pointed.  Benny, bless his heart, plays dumb.

“I don’t quite catch your meaning, ma’am,” he says, “We obviously won’t know the pup’s designation for some time.”

Hester’s professional smile shrinks a little. 

“No, I meant _your_ designations,” she corrects him.

Dean shares a look with Benny.  In the delicate scented air of this boutique their Alpha musk would be obvious.  This was going downhill.

“Is that actually on the form?” Dean has to ask, “Because I don’t see how our Alpha status will matter when it comes to picking out a highchair.”

“We do sell a number of products and services to help the less…maternally inclined,” Hester explains, gaze flicking over Dean and Benny’s generally masculine appearance.  Benny’s eyebrows rise at the store attendant’s nonverbal critique.

“The less ‘maternally inclined’,” Dean repeats, eyes narrowing, “Do you suggest these ‘services’ to male Alpha/Omega pairs that come in too?”

“Only to couples in need,” Hester tells him, “We have a database of reputable Omega caregivers who specialize in safety and nutrition for Alpha-only homes.  We can add their contact information to your registry-“

“We don’t need an Omega _nanny_ to take care of our pup for us,” Dean interrupts her.

Hester’s look of raw skepticism is the last straw for Benny, who sighs deeply. 

“Ma’am,” he interrupts her, southern manners impeccable, “Thank you for your help, but I think we’re going to have to take our business elsewhere.”

“Oh?”  Hester makes very little effort to appear anything but relieved. 

“That’s right,” Benny continues, “Our sister-in-law recommended you to us, so we gave it our best shot, but you’re clearly not the right fit for our family.  _Cher_?”

“I’m way ahead of you,” Dean agrees through clenched teeth, doing his best to keep his voice from descending into a growl.  He stuffs his crumpled list back into his pocket and lets Benny guide him back to the entrance of the store.  He can hear Hester muttering to her returned coworker.  It’s too low to make out, but Dean can guess it’s not flattering.

“And for the record,” Dean calls back to the pair of Omegas at the register, “I’m a paramedic, and my mate is a goddamned _chef_.  Just because we don’t look like _you_ doesn’t mean we aren’t qualified to keep a pup safe and fed and _loved_.”

Dean turns on his heel and leaves before the bitter scent of his anger can permeate too far into the store.  Plenty of people could walk through that space, and Dean doesn’t want to distress any expectant mothers with his Alpha funk. 

Dean dodges another couple heading into the store and heads for the car.  They look like a nice Alpha/Omega pair, the slighter man in a loose sweater that does nothing to hide his pregnancy.  Dean can feel their eyes on him as he makes his way to the Impala. 

“Is something wrong?” he hears the Omega asks Benny, hand pressed to his rounded stomach. 

 “No, just a little disagreement,” Benny assures the nervous couple, “I’m certain the two of you will like this place just fine.”

Only Dean would recognize the bitter edge of sarcasm to Benny’s words, and it helps a little to know Benny is as pissed off as Dean is.  Fortunately for them both Benny has a better handle on his visible emotions. 

Benny slides into the driver’s side of the car and they sit in tense silence for a few seconds.  Eventually Dean groans, dropping his face into his hands. 

“Well that was a shit show,” he mutters. 

“Start to finish,” Benny agrees.  He starts the car, and they leave the awful boutique in their rearview mirror. 

“I’m sure she was just looking for a commission,” Benny ventures after a few minutes of painful silence, “Those services don’t come cheap.”

“Yeah that’s how I butter up my patients when I want a good tip,” Dean says, sarcasm dripping off his tongue, “Insult their capacity for nurturing.”

Benny sighs, shaking his head. 

They’re almost home when Dean’s phone goes off in his pocket.  Dean doesn’t really feel like talking, but he picks up when he sees his brother on the caller ID.

“Sammy,” he greets him, “What’s up?”

“Hey Dean.  How was the place?” Sam asks eagerly.  He sounds a little out of breath, and Dean can hear Henry’s voice babbling the in the background.  His brother must have just finished playtime for the morning.  For some reason today that fills Dean with bitterness instead of the usual affection.

“It was fucking awful, Sammy,” Dean admits.  The anger is still simmering under his skin.

“What?” Sam exclaims, “Me and Jess had a great time there.  Everybody was super helpful.”

“Well I guess we don’t measure up like you and Jess,” Dean tells his brother frankly, “They freakin’ ignored us until the last possible second, and when we finally managed to get some help, they suggested we register for an Omega nanny service to help us poor brutish Alphas handle the pup’s-what was it again, Benny?”

“Nutrition and safety,” Benny grunts, guiding the Impala into the garage.

“Right, ‘nutrition and safety’.  The same shit as always.  Of course my _favorite_ part was the first forty seconds,” Dean continues, venomously slamming the Impala’s door, “When we walked in and they both just fucking stared at us, like they were trying to figure out which one of us could _possibly_ be capable of giving birth.”

“Shit,” Sam curses, “I’m sorry, Dean.  You know I never would have sent you to that store if I thought-“

“Well you _didn’t_ think Sam,” Dean snaps, “You can’t seem to get it through your head that when you’re not the world’s most fucking picture perfect Alpha/Omega couple people don’t roll out the red fucking carpet.”

Dean already feels guilty over the stunned silence that follows, but he can’t be bothered to coddle his Alpha brother’s feelings through the haze of aggression muddying his thoughts.

“You know what,” Dean grumbles, “Just forget it.  I’ll call you back, Sammy.”

Dean ends the call.  Part of him wishes he could just chuck the phone against the wall, as hard as he can, but smart phones cost money.  He settles for pocketing the device venomously.

“That might have been a little harsh,” Benny suggests, closing his car side door gently.

“He doesn’t _get_ it, Benny,” Dean growls, running his hands through his hair, “It’s not just one crazy conservative every now and then, it’s a million assholes _every day_ and I _can’t take it_ anymore.”

Away from the general public, Benny lets Dean rage, slapping his open palms onto the roof of the Impala and growling in the safety of their garage.

It only takes a minute for the heat of Dean’s anger to drain away, and he’s left feeling tired and empty.  He can feel the stirrings of a great tension headache right between his eyes.  Dean gives the front tire a half-hearted kick, still seething in a defeated kind of way.  Eventually Benny comes around and takes Dean by the hands.  Dean expects his mate to lead him inside.

“Let’s go sit on the back porch for a while,” Benny says instead.

“What?” Dean demands, “Why?”

“Because you reek, sugar,” Benny puts it bluntly, “And I won’t have it in our house.  Not if Elizabeth is coming over for dinner later.”

Dean puffs up, ready to fight.  Benny stays calm and under his mates unerring gaze Dean takes a breath and actually pauses to scent the air. Warring with the smell of motor oil and dust is the bitter, peppery smell of Dean’s aggression.  Dean actually sneezes from the thickness of it.  Ugh, Benny’s right.  Dean doesn’t want that in their house.  He doesn’t want that kind of palpable anger anywhere near Elizabeth or their pup.  Dean deflates, and he lets Benny tug him back out of the garage and around to their screened in porch.  The shade keeps away the worst of the end of July heat, and Benny pulls Dean down onto their wicker sofa.

“I’m sorry,” Dean mumbles.  Benny just hums, tucking Dean’s face into the crook of his shoulder.

“I’m so fucking _angry_ ,” Dean mutters into his mate’s neck, “I’m so angry, but I’m not even allowed to feel it properly, Benny.  ‘Cause if we let ‘em see it for one fucking second then everything they say about us will be true.”

“I know, darlin’,” Benny soothes.  Dean scents and growls softly until some of the tension finally leaves his shoulders.  He slumps against his mate.  He feels frustrated, and exhausted, and humiliated.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Dean whispers, “Usually I can shake this stuff right off.  But everything was going so _good_ , and that was just like a smack in the face.”

Benny drags his fingers through Dean’s hair, making soothing noises.

“I’m so excited for the pup,” Dean continues, “For Madeline, and I didn’t want her to be affected because of our designation but it’s already happening.  I was stupid, I guess, to think it was gonna play out any other way.”

“…this isn’t just about the maternity store,” Benny deciphers, “What’s going on, _cher_?”

Dean sighs, blinking moisture out of his eyes.

“I’m not going to get any paternity leave at work,” he admits, “Since neither of us is pregnant the company isn’t obligated to give me any paid time off when the pup comes home.”

Benny pauses stroking Dean’s hair, surprised.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks.  Dean scowls.

“’Cause I was fuckin’ upset about it,” he snaps, before deflating again, “I knew the policy, but I was hoping they’d make an exception since I’ve been there so long.”

“No dice?” Benny guesses.  Dean shakes his head, miserable. 

“I’ve got a week’s worth of sick days,” Dean continues, “And Victor says go ahead and use ‘em.  But then I’m out for a year and we’ll have a newborn on our hands.  If something happened I wouldn’t be able to get out of work.”

“And Castiel can’t do anything for us?” Benny wonders.

“I called him, but there’s not much he can do without making a fuss,” Dean explains, “And we can’t afford to lose my income if the fight goes the wrong way.”

Benny nods, sighing again.  Even his optimistic Alpha can’t find much good to say about that.  Benny just presses a kiss to the top of Dean’s head. 

“We’ll find a way, _cher,_ ” Benny says at last, “We always do.  Now c’mon.  You sound like you need an aspirin.”

Dean blows his breath out in a whoosh. 

“Yeah,” he agrees, snuggling close to his mate for just a few more seconds, “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I inflict pain only so I can heal it. Fluff and smut to come!


	17. Chapter 17

When Dean arrives at the station at five-thirty the next morning, he’s unsettled to find all the lights off in the staff room.  Victor had asked him to come in a half hour early to handle some kind of paperwork thing from a call last week and even this early in the morning the station is usually bustling, with people getting ready to clock out at the very least. 

“What the hell,” Dean wonders as he fumbles blindly for the bank of light switches by the door.  He jumps when the lights reveal a crowd of his coworkers, all waiting with big smiles.    

“ _Surprise_!”

 “What’s this?” Dean asks, gazing in disbelief at the small group assembled.  There’s the guys from his crew, Aaron and Alfie, and Gabe, Kali and Jo, who were probably just getting off for the night.  Victor is at the front of the group, with his dispatching headset still on, and Dean can see a few of the other call guys milling around in the back.  Even Rufus and a few of the other paramedics are there.  Dean doesn’t tend to see them too often, since they like to spread the paramedics out among the different shifts. 

“It’s your pup shower,” Jo informs him, dragging him over to a folding table set up against the wall of lockers, “We promised food, and everybody showed up, even though it’s the ass crack of dawn.”

Somebody must have cleaned out the local donut shop.  There’s six dozen delicious looking breakfast snacks in big white bakery boxes on the table, along with an economy size carafe of coffee.  Taped above the whole thing is a banner that reads “Congrats Dean!” in rainbow Microsoft WordArt.  There’s a modest pile of gifts waiting under the table.

Dean is speechless.  After the shit show that was yesterday this is the last thing he ever expected; all his work friends coming together to throw him a damn party.  His eyes burn and for a second Dean thinks he might actually cry over a table of donuts.  Luckily he manages to pull himself together and throw a cocky smile on his face. 

“Guys, I’m touched,” Dean drawls, placing a melodramatic hand over his heart.  Everybody laughs, and nobody pokes at Dean’s fragile bravado.

“Don’t be an ass, Winchester,” Victor tells him, clapping Dean on the back, “Have a doughnut and open some gifts before we get a call.”

Dean has a chocolate glazed and a Boston cream before tearing the paper off a few of the eccentrically wrapped gifts.  There were three or four squishy square packages that turned out to be diapers from Tessa and some the other nurses Dean knows from the ER, in sizes ranging from newborn to three months.  Jo’s gift is two pounds of his favorite late night coffee.

“Between this job and a pup I figure you’re never gonna get to sleep again,” she says. 

Gabe and Kali find that hilarious, and they don’t stop laughing when Dean opens their present, one of those backpack baby carriers in bright pink camouflage. 

“Thanks guys.  This is gonna be perfect for Bring Your Pup to Work Day,” Dean says, with a completely straight face.  He goes so far as to model the carrier, sliding the straps over his shoulders so the little pink harness sits on his chest.  “You think it’ll pass rig inspection?”

“Ready for action,” Gabriel snorts as Kali wheezes with laughter.

There’s a small pile of gift cards, for Target and Wegmann’s and Baby’s-R-Us.  _Congrats!, from Aaron.  Blessings!, love Garth.  Good Luck …Frank._  There’s one from pretty much everybody Dean’s ever shared a shift with.        

Dean’s favorite gift is probably from Victor.  It’s a little blue onesie that reads “My Alpha Dad Saves Lives”, with the EMT “star of life” logo on the tummy. 

“Dude,” Dean exclaims, fitting the newborn sized tee over the palm of his hand, “Where did you find this?”

“There’s a gift shop for every profession if you can figure out the right Google search,” Victor says, “Congrats, man.”

Dean pulls his friend into a brief hug. 

“This means a lot, Vic,” he tells him, voice husky, “Really.”

“You deserve it,” Victor replies, before stepping back with a chuckle, “Don’t get too misty eyed on me, now.  This was pretty half-assed, as far as pup showers go.”

“It’s great,” Dean declares, “Thank you.”

“We’re not done yet,” Gabriel announces, pulling one more envelope from somewhere on his person.

Dean is surprised.  There’s an energy to the room as Gabriel hands the white letter envelope over.  Dean would have expected a lot of people to head home once the donuts got passed out, but it seems like everyone is waiting for Dean to open this last gift. 

“This was Victor’s idea,” Gabriel admits, “But all the paramedics pitched in.” 

Dean smiles uncertainly, peeling back the scotch tape holding the envelope shut.

“This is all really too much guys,” he says before his eyes drop to the simple piece of computer paper in his hands.  It’s just a Word document, signed by all of the paramedics is various colors of pen.  Clearly it got passed around in a rush before Dean arrived for his shift.  But it’s the few typed sentences that threaten to make Dean choke up in front of all his coworkers. 

 _We the undersigned,_ it reads, parodying a legal document, _do hereby bequeath three sick days each to one Dean Winchester, so that he can fight the system and spend some time at home with his new pup._

They’re gonna give him their personal days.  Three each.  Dean counts off all the paramedics in his head.  Gabe, Kali, Rufus, Rachel, Inias…

“That’s fifteen days, kiddo,” Gabriel sums up for him, “It’s not much, but every moment counts, right?”

Dean still can’t believe what he’s reading.  “You guys…” he stammers, “How?”

“Let us worry about that,” Victor cuts in, “I already talked it over with Cas, and he says it’s legal.  That’s all you need to know.”

“But,” Dean objects, looking to his fellow paramedics, “This is too much, really.  You guys shouldn’t give up your time for me.”

“Look, Dean-o,” Gabriel says, “You’re not a douche.  We like you, and more importantly, everybody here knows you got cheated out of your time off on a stupid technicality.  Take the freebie, and save your real sick days for when your pup gets an ear infection or whatever.”

Dean’s gotta sit down.  Fifteen days at home with Benny and Madeline.  He could use a couple of his own days and that’s almost three weeks of time with his mate and his pup. 

“I don’t know what to say,” Dean admits, holding the letter close to his chest.

“Say ‘thank you’,” Rufus shouts from the back of the room, “And send us some pictures of that pup.”

That gets a laugh, and after a few more back pats and ‘congratulations’ the impromptu reception starts to break up.  The dispatchers return to their posts, carrying napkins loaded with extra provisions for the long day ahead.  Gabe, Kali, and Jo finally clock out and head home, while Dean’s crew gets started on their safety inspections. 

Dean perches on his bunk, surrounded by tokens of his coworker’s good will.  All the gifts, even gag ones fill him with warmth.  Dean holds the dumb pink pup harness and the letter from his fellow paramedics in his lap.  It’s overwhelming, the outpouring of affection after he and Benny got kicked around yesterday.  Dean’s vision blurs and he dabs away the moisture on his cheeks, surprised at how much he’s affected by this little pile of gifts and cards.

“You okay, Dean?” Aaron asks, dropping onto his bunk across the way. 

“Yeah,” Dean says, wiping his eyes with a laugh, “I’m good.  It’s just nice to be reminded why I love this job.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! THis chapter turned out a little longer (and kinkier ;)) than I expected. It picks up right after Dean's shift!

Benny’s stirring something delicious and sweet smelling in the crock pot when Dean stumbles in the door a little after six AM.  He’s still in his pajamas.  Given the early hour Benny had no doubt gotten up to put together something for Dean to eat before going back to bed.  Dean doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around his mate, burying his nose in the back of Benny’s neck with a happy sigh. 

“Good morning, _cher,_ ” Benny rumbles, resting his hands on top of Dean’s, “You smell better.” 

“I feel better,” Dean admits, “The guys at the station threw me a little shower.”

“Oh yeah?” Benny asks, turning a little so Dean can see his smile.

“Yeah,” Dean says, “It was sweet.  I’ve got presents in the car.” 

“Did we get a good haul?”

“Lots of diapers,” Dean tells him, “Some gift cards I know we can put to use, a few gag gifts…and this.”

Benny drops some whole cloves into what Dean’s guessing are stewed apples in the slow cooker before he takes the letter Dean just pulled out of his pocket. 

“Am I gonna need my glasses?” Benny asks, unfolding the cheap paper and holding it at a comic distance from his squinty gaze. 

“Nah, it’s pretty brief,” Dean says, waiting for his mate to read the few typed sentences.  Benny’s eyes widen as they scan the letter from Dean’s fellow paramedics and he turns to Dean with damp eyes and a hopeful expression.

“How much time did they get you?” Benny asks, grinning. 

“If I add three of my own,” Dean explains, “I’ll have eighteen days at home.  It’s not the month I should have gotten but-“

“But nothing,” Benny declares, pulling Dean into his embrace, “This is wonderful, Dean.  Eighteen days home with our pup.  It’s the best gift I could have wished for you.”

“It’s such a relief,” Dean admits, nuzzling his mate’s jaw, “I was freaking out, but now…well.  I guess I’m just happy.”

Benny drops a kiss on Dean’s lips. 

“Me too,” he agrees.  Benny buries his face in Dean’s neck, inhaling Dean’s happy scent.  Dean’s doing the same, dragging in a sweet hit of Benny’s honey whiskey smell, free of bitterness.  The night after the disastrous baby boutique visit hadn’t been a fight, exactly, but both mate’s had been struggling with the impotency of being unable to soothe their partner’s distress.  It didn’t make for the most intimate of evenings.  Now, though, Benny’s full, content aroma may as well have been an aphrodisiac.  Benny’s scenting has turned into a line of wet kisses up Dean’s neck, and Dean is scratching at his mate’s scalp, rutting against the thigh Benny has pressed between his legs.

“ _Benny_ ,” Dean pouts, looking for a real kiss from his mate.

“Just a second,” Benny urges, reaching behind to put the lid back on the crock pot, “These apples have gotta cook.”

“Mm…let ‘em cook,” Dean says, pulling Benny in by the front of his sleep shirt, “Take me to bed.”

“You don’t gotta ask me twice, gorgeous.”                  

Dean parts his lips for Benny’s tongue, and the kisses go from hot to searing.  Dean’s about to say screw the bed and have Benny bend him over the countertop when another idea pops into his head and sends his libido into overdrive.

“Actually,” Dean says, breaking their kiss, “Hold on a second.”

Confusion bleeds in to Benny’s expression.  Dean soothes his mate, rubbing his thumb against Benny’s mating bite.

“Easy, Alpha,” Dean rumbles, “I just wanna get outta this uniform and slip into something pretty real quick.”

This close Dean can see Benny’s pupils dilate.  His mate’s hands tighten on his waist.  It’s possessive and primal, and Dean has to bite his lip to hold back his moan.

“Stay here, baby,” Dean says, kissing just behind Benny’s ear, “I’ll be right back.”

Benny’s touch lingers in Dean’s senses as he makes his way to their bedroom, stripping out of his navy blue uniform efficiently.  His name badge goes on the dresser and his cargo pants and collared shirt go into the hamper.  Dean kicks off his sweaty socks and the faded boxers he’d worn for comfort at the station, shedding the long day before but holding on to the pleasant memories from his shower. 

Completely bare, Dean enjoys the cool artificial breeze of their central air conditioning against his skin while he fishes through his underwear drawer for a certain gift Benny had bought him for his thirtieth birthday.  He feels a burst of triumph, not to mention an extra curl of heat in his belly when his fingers finally close around the hot pink lace panties that Dean keeps carefully maintained behind his less immaculate boxers.  He lays them out on the dresser, checking the flimsy undergarment over for loose threads or snags, letting the anticipation build a little before he picks them up and carefully slips his feet through the leg holes. 

The morning light makes the lace shimmer and gives Dean’s skin a warm glow.  Dean feels warm, all over, between his mate and their coming pup and the little snippets of awesome that can happen sometimes despite living in a shitty universe.

The material tickles as he slides it up over the prickly hair on his calves.  Dean bites his lip, teasing himself a little as the delicate lace drags against the inside of his thighs.  He tucks himself into the flimsy undergarment carefully once the lace trim is sitting where it should on his hips.  Dean’s not boasting when he admits it’s a challenge to fit his thickening cock into the panties.  He’s not small to start with and between the material against his dick and the smell of Benny’s arousal still lingering in his nose Dean is half hard. 

 _Fuck yeah_ , Dean thinks as he admires his figure in the mirror over their dresser.  The pink floral lace only highlights the weird mix of masculine and delicate that Dean has going on already.  His broad shoulders and rough hands contrast with his mother’s mouth and the softness beneath his belly button.  Dean used to wear himself out trying to compensate for what his dad called his “Omega” features, until he met his mate.  Benny loved those parts of Dean from the beginning.  Over the years Dean’s learned to love them too.

He’s a healthy Alpha in touch with his feminine side, sue him.

His mate’s scent grows a little stronger in the air, and Dean grins as he spots Benny lurking at the entrance of their bedroom, eyes alight with arousal and curiosity.

Benny’s unashamedly staring from the doorway, so Dean poses for his mate in the mirror’s reflection.  Dean drops his hands behind his head and winks at Benny, flexing.

“Couldn’t wait?” Dean teases.  Benny’s eyes are practically glued to Dean’s ass, and it makes him shiver. 

“I could smell you gettin’ started without me,” Benny responds, tapping his nose, “Didn’t want to miss the show.”

“Well since you’re here,” Dean says, beckoning Benny closer, “I could use a little audience participation.”

Benny doesn’t hesitate to cross the room, getting a hold of Dean’s hips from behind.  Dean lets Benny pull him back against his chest.  Benny’s gaze is hot in the mirror, tracing over the hot pink lace hugging Dean’s hips while he palms his ass.  Dean’s breath hitches when one of Benny’s wide palms skims over his stomach, teasing the waistband of Dean’s panties.

“You like ‘em?” Dean asks, playing shy for his Alpha.  Benny’s growl rumbles deep in his chest.  Dean can feel his mate’s erection against the small of his back. 

“You know I do, _cher,_ ” Benny drawls, thumbs toying with the lace edge at the top of Dean’s thighs, “I picked ‘em out for you, remember?”

“Yeah.” Dean’s head drops back onto Benny’s shoulder.  His voice is a husky whisper, weak with arousal.  Benny went to a lingerie store, probably full of dainty Omega-shaped mannequins, and bought these delicate lace panties just for him.  Did he ask for help from one of the store attendants?  Dean’s face warms, flushed at the mere thought.  Did Benny let them think he was shopping for an Omega mate, or did he tell them all about his tall, rough, freckled Alpha?  Dean knows he must have.  Benny wouldn’t have left that store until he was certain he’d found the perfect pair, and for that he’d need a professional opinion.

Benny drags his fingers from Dean’s thighs across his crotch, massaging Dean’s hard cock through the panties. 

“I wonder if I can make you come without taking these off,” Benny muses, thumb circling the head of Dean’s dick over the lace.  Dean moans, shuddering against his mate’s chest. 

“I’d say that’s a pretty safe bet,” Dean says when he can form words again.  Benny laughs and nips at Dean’s mating mark.  His free hand cups Dean’s ass, kneading the extra flesh there. 

“These do the most amazing things for your ass,” Benny says leaning back to admire the aforementioned asset, “And it was a sweet thing to begin with.”

Despite the blood filling his cock, Dean has enough left over to blush. 

It’s a short journey from there to the bed, interspersed with plenty of kissing and amateur groping.  Dean lets out a yelp of surprise when instead of letting him crawl to the middle Benny presses Dean belly down onto the edge of their mattress.

Benny shoves a pillow under Dean’s hips, giving his ass a little altitude while his legs hang over the edge of their high bed frame.  Dean’s feet touch the floor, but just barely.  It won’t be enough to give him any leverage off his belly. 

“Mm don’t worry darlin’,” Benny soothes him, massaging from his back all the way back down to his panty clad ass, “Just wanted to pay special attention to these goods.”

Dean shivers under his mate’s touch.  Benny keeps up his firm touches, soothing all the kinks out of Dean’s muscles left over from a long shift.  Dean blushes when Benny kneels down and presses kisses to his round backside while he works the stiffness out of Dean’s bowed thighs.  Dean’s practically drooling into the mattress when Benny gets back to his feet, inspecting Dean’s panty clad ass like a damn surveyor.

“We might need these to move a _little_ ,” Benny muses, scooting down the elastic lace just enough to expose Dean’s hole, while keeping his cock and balls firmly ensconced in the silky material.    

“That’s cheating,” Dean objects, even though his cock throbs when he realizes what Benny has in mind.  Now that his bare ass is exposed to the cool air Dean can’t stop thinking about Benny’s cock, which he knows is hard and waiting beneath Benny’s faded sweats.  Dean would like to get fucked now, ideally with Benny’s dick.  At least his fingers would be a great start.   

“I think we can let it slide,” Benny drawls, fetching the slick from their bedside table, “I’m gonna make it worth your while.”

 _Sheesh_ , Dean thinks just before Benny starts teasing his rim with a cool, slick finger.  Lucky for them Dean managed to snag a shower at the station before he came home. 

All other thoughts of hygiene are shoved onto the back burner as Benny pushes his first finger inside him.  It’s not much of a strain but Dean had underestimated how sensitive he would be once Benny actually put something in his ass.  It had been a couple of days since they’d really fucked and it’s not like there’s a subtle way to jerk off in your bunk at the ambulance headquarters.  Dean bites his lip, trying to work his hips down and get some friction on his cock.  Unfortunately the fluffy pillow underneath him pretty much puts the kibosh on that plan of action and Dean has no choice but to curl his toes and let Benny finger him to the edge of oblivion. 

“How’d I end up with a mate as gorgeous as you, hm?” Benny wonders after a few minutes, scissoring two fingers inside of Dean. 

“Pher- _ah_ -pheromone compatibility,” Dean grunts, biting back a moan as Benny crooks his fingers and finds Dean’s prostate.  The next moan escapes unhindered as Benny jabs his newly located prostate again in perfect time with a sharp smack to his partially lace covered ass. 

“Oh _fuck_ ,” Dean pants as the stinging pain fades out into buzzing pleasure, “Don’t start shit like that, Benny.  You’re gonna give me a kink.”

“Hm,” Benny hums again, “I like the sound of that.  Maybe next time I buy you lingerie I’ll go for leather.”

“ _Shit,_ ” Dean curses, rocking back onto Benny’s fingers, “You’re gonna make me come- _fuck._ More.  I need _more_.”

Benny adds a third finger and it’s heaven and hell because Dean needs to get filled but now he can really feel the stretch.  It burns and Dean loves it.  He loves the unforgiving bulk of Benny’s fingers in his ass and he loves the contrasting gentleness of Benny’s lips and hand on his back and shoulders. 

“I love you like this,” Benny murmurs into his skin as Dean pants and whimpers, “Fuck, baby I love you strong, but you’re never more beautiful than when you let me see you like this.”

“Only you,” Dean promises, shuddering as Benny rubs over his prostate again and again, “Just for us, baby.”

“It’s an honor I’ll never deserve, _mon coeur._ ”

Benny keeps fingering him until Dean is about ready to scream.  Only when Dean is a begging mess does he finally slip his free hand under the waistband of Dean’s panties and take hold of his cock.  Dean sobs in relief as Benny squeezes just right, still torturing Dean’s prostate from the inside. 

“Fuck- _fuck-Alpha_ -“ Dean babbles as his vision whites out and he climaxes, rutting into Benny’s hand.  Dean makes a mess of his underwear, and no doubt the pillow still pinned under his hips, but he doesn’t care.  He’ll do laundry once Benny’s at work.  For now he fucks into the sticky mess until he gets too sensitive, then he whines until Benny extricates his fingers from Dean’s ass and takes his hand off Dean’s cock with a chuckle. 

Dean’s riding his post-orgasmic high, make no mistake, but that doesn’t mean he’s done for the day.  When Benny pulls away, maybe to grab a washcloth or whatever, Dean shakes his head firmly.

“Oh no you don’t,” Dean growls, reaching back to tug Benny top of him, “We’ve made it too far for you not to fuck me now.”

Benny doesn’t object, just pins Dean gently to the mattress with his weight.  Benny is still mostly clothed, and the drag of material against Dean’s bare skin is delicious.

“Bossy,” Benny teases against the shell of Dean’s ear.  Dean shivers but tries to make his voice stern.

“Listen to your Alpha, Benny Lafitte,” he orders, ignoring Benny’s grin against the curve of his neck. 

“Anything you want, sugar,” Benny drawls as he steps back to pull out his cock and slick himself up.  

“I want your dick,” Dean reminds him.

“So romantic.”  Lace is still holding tight onto Dean’s thighs as Benny dips his fingers into Dean’s hole one more time.  He’s plenty loose from Benny’s ministrations earlier.  Too loose.  Dean needs a nice thick cock to fill him up.

“Hey, now,” Dean objects, voice cracking as Benny grazes over his sensitive prostate, “One of us here is wearing women’s underwear, and it ain’t you, buddy.  If that’s not romantic I don’t know what is.”

“You’re right,” Benny cedes, suspiciously chastened, “I’m sorry.”

Dean’s smug grin is interrupted when Benny removes his fingers from Dean’s ass and replaces them with his cock in the space of a breath.  Dean chokes as Benny pushes in without warning, driving into his well prepped ass until his hips are flush against the bunched material of Dean’s panties where they’ve been pushed down around his thighs.

“You bastard,” Dean growls once he can do more than gape like a hooked fish, “You did that on purpose.”

“I was moved by the romance of the moment,” Benny insists innocently, grinding shallowly into him, “I just had to have you, _cher_.”

“Fuck you,” Dean spits, despite the grin tugging at his lips.  He moans, clenching down around the thickness of his mate inside him.  “Actually, I changed my mind.  Fuck me instead.”

“Like I said,” Benny rumbles, pulling out so he can fuck back into Dean with a groan, “Anything you want.”

Dean lets Benny set the pace and sinks into the mattress, loose and sated.  After coming just from Benny’s fingering Dean isn’t looking for another orgasm, just to satisfy his mate and enjoy the _zings_ of over stimulated pleasure-pain that make him moan and whimper after every thrust.  Dean is awash in endorphins and pheromones and it’s fucking awesome.

Eventually Benny’s knot sinks into Dean’s ass and stays there.  By the time Benny collapses on top of him Dean’s practically purring into the bedspread, well fucked and worn out. 

“Considering we weren’t even really fighting,” Dean muses after a few minutes of mutual panting and petting, “That’s probably the best make up sex we’ve ever had.”

“I won’t argue with that,” Benny rumbles against Dean’s back, “Let’s handle all of our close minded conservative run-ins this way, yeah?”

Dean sighs, clenching down again on his mate’s knot.  “It’s a deal.”

Eventually it gets uncomfortable hanging half off the mattress.  Dean manages to wiggle the sticky panties down his thighs until he can kick them off in the general direction of the hamper. 

“Time to move, big guy,” Dean urges his lethargic mate.  Benny grumbles, perfectly comfortable using Dean as a human body pillow, but Dean manages to rouse him and they figure out a plan to get on the bed properly without yanking where Benny is still tied inside him.

Morning sex is weird like that, Dean muses as they shuffle awkwardly up the bed until Dean can settle his head on a pillow.  They’re knotted in bed but the room is full of light and even after a twenty-four hour shift Dean’s not feeling that usual post-coital urge to fall asleep.  Benny’s gotta head in to the restaurant in a few hours and Dean doesn’t want to waste any of that time napping. 

“So how are things?” Dean asks casually, which makes Benny laugh considering how intimately they’re connected. 

“Can’t complain, at the moment,” Benny says, eyes dancing as he leans over Dean for a kiss. 

“I’ll bet,” Dean says, rolling his eyes, “Anything new at the restaurant?”

“Me and Liz took a couple of interviews yesterday during dinner prep,” Benny reveals, wrapping an arm over Dean’s belly, “I like doin’ ‘em in the kitchen.  You can see who’s got the right energy.”

“Oh yeah?” Dean asks, “Any winners?”

“Well the first guy knocked himself out of the running when he hit on Elizabeth,” Benny nearly growls.

“Right in front of you?” Dean asked incredulously, thinking of their niece who was nearing the eight month mark in her pregnancy.

“He waited ‘til I had my back turned,” Benny chuckles, “I had to check somethin’ in the oven and when I looked back Liz had him against the fridge facing the business end of a filet knife.”

“Good for her,” Dean says, “I would have gutted him.  He could have sent her into early labor.”

Benny nuzzles into the back of Dean’s neck, letting out a few protective rumbles. 

“Anyways,” Benny continues eventually, “After we took out that trash there was a lady Omega, fresh out of school.  She was something else.  Knife skills like I’ve never seen, but I think we’re too small a business for her, really.  I told her I’d keep her number, but I really thought she should try for Chicago, or even New York.”

“Destined for big things?” Dean muses.

“Mhm,” Benny agrees, “I think if she stays in Kansas she might run me out of business someday.  A lot of talent in a small body, that Meg Masters.”

It’s getting a little chilly in the air conditioning, so Benny takes a minute to carefully tug a blanket up from the end of their bed.  Dean shifts when he needs to but otherwise lets Benny tuck them in. 

“So no real candidates then,” Dean asks, “Or was there somebody else?” 

He’s getting a little worried about the due date hanging over their heads.  Dean knows Benny can’t just hire anybody to work at _Baton Rouge_ but Elizabeth isn’t going to be able to work for much longer.  As it is Zeke is working more doubles for Benny than can possibly be healthy.  _Baton Rouge_ needs more staff and quick.

“One last guy, over the phone,” Benny says, “He’s an old buddy of mine from school actually.  He’s been in Chicago for a couple of years but he says he’s looking to get out of the pressure cooker.”

“This would be the place for that,” Dean figures, “Did you like him?  Back then?”

“Balthazar was a smarmy pain in the ass,” Benny remembers, “But he knew when to have a good time and when to buckle down.  I think he’d fit in.  Best part, he says he can recommend me a line cook.  Younger gal he knew from his old restaurant.”

“Sounds like a smart choice,” Dean tells his mate, “As long as you can trust him to follow orders I say give him a shot.”

“Me and Liz were thinkin’ the same,” Benny says, “I set up a practical interview next week.  If everything goes smoothly I’ll hire him and Hannah the line cook to start ASAP.”

“That’ll be good,” Dean agrees, “We can get Elizabeth off the schedule.  I’m worried about her being on her feet this much as it is.”

“Mhm,” Benny hums, “I keep her eating and drinking when she comes in for prep, but I can tell she’s getting tired.  Madeline’s starting to kick up a storm, too.  It’ll be good to have Lizzie resting full time.”

Dean agrees, a low protective rumble in his chest when he thinks of his niece and their pup that she’s carrying.  He and Benny are trying to strike the right balance, not encroaching too much on Elizabeth’s personal space and freedom but making sure they’re providing everything their niece could need to have a healthy pregnancy.  If Dean has his way they’ll have Elizabeth move in with them eventually, at least for the last few weeks before her due date once moving around and keeping house get more difficult for her. 

He’s been in cahoots with Charlie, who’s still determinedly planning their “surprise” pup shower.  It didn’t take much convincing to get Charlie to also make it a party for Liz, who know doubt could use some furnishings for an apartment and whatnot when she moves to Chicago in the spring.  Dean and Benny have been keeping Elizabeth’s paychecks steady even as her working hours decline, so they’re confident she’ll have plenty of money for tuition.  Their friends and family can help provide the trimmings.

Benny shifts inside him and it draws Dean’s mind away from nieces and parties.  He groans softly, his rim sensitive.

“Feels like it’s finally going down,” Dean says and Benny nods against the back of his neck. 

“We might not have time to do this again for a while,” Benny muses, and Dean realizes his mate is probably right.  Benny is going to be at _Baton Rouge_ more than ever until the pup is born, what with him and Zeke trying to pick up Elizabeth’s shifts, and once Madeline arrives Dean is sure sex will be the last thing on their minds. 

“Well we went out with a bang,” Dean answers his mate, turning for a kiss.  They trade kisses until Benny’s knot goes down enough that they can separate.  It’s a little bittersweet this time, but Dean knows he and Benny won’t be able to keep their hands off each other forever. 

“Don’t worry Alpha,” Dean says, finally rolling over to lay against Benny’s chest, “We’ll be doing our best to make a pup the old fashioned way for a few years yet.” 

Benny chuckles, and they lay together comfortably until the kitchen timer goes off, and it’s time for breakfast.

 

* * *

 

When Dean rings his brother’s doorbell a little after eleven, he’s got a whole nest of butterflies in his stomach.  Once the endorphins had finally worn off Dean had been left feeling a whole lot of guilt for biting Sam’s head off the other day.  The only way Dean knew how to handle that was to man up and deal with it head on.  So he dropped Benny off for lunch service and made his way over to Sam and Jess’ house on the other side of town. 

In retrospect, Dean muses as the chime echoes through the house, he probably should have texted or something before he just drove over here.  Sam could be at work, or out with Jess. 

Dean’s just about to turn around and head back to the Impala when the door opens and Sam is on the other side, wearing running pants and an old Stanford t-shirt. 

“Dean?”  Sam looks surprised to see him, and Dean offers a cheerful grimace. 

“Hiya, Sammy,” he says, scuffing his boots on his brother’s welcome mat.  There’s an awkward pause.  If there’s anything Sam and Dean are equally good at it’s avoiding a touchy subject, but Dean wants to move forward. 

“I’m sorry-“ Both brothers begin at the same time.

“No, me first,” Dean cuts Sam off, “I’m sorry.  I know you and Jess would never send me and Benny somewhere we were gonna get treated shitty.  It wasn’t your fault those guys at the store turned out to be fucking homophobes.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Dean,” Sam responds, “I’m not mad that you got frustrated with me.  If anything, I’m the one who should be sorry.”

“But-“

“Really,” Sam continues, “You and Benny deal with a lot of crap that me and Jess are never gonna have to worry about, and it’s easy for us to tune it all out but you guys don’t have that option.  I want to be here for you, man, not add to your problems.”

Dean pulls his brother into a hug with a sigh of relief.  Sam understands, and that’s all Dean needs, really. 

“Don’t worry about me and Benny,” Dean tells Sam firmly, “We’re okay.  We’re happy, and no amount of bullshit can keep us down.”

“I know,” Sam says, face smushed against Dean’s jacket, “But you’ve got us.  When the pup comes, or whenever, you can count on me.”

“You know I love ‘ya, little brother,” Dean says fiercely, “And your family.  You and Jess and Henry, you guys make the shitty days better.”

It’s not hard to hold onto Sam for a minute, wrapped up in comforting familial scents, but eventually Dean claps his brother on the back, the Winchester cue that touchy feely time is over. 

“Thanks Dean,” Sam says, voice a little husky, “I gotta pick up Henry from school in an hour, but you want to grab a sandwich or something until then?  I feel like we haven’t gotten to hang out much lately.”

“Yeah, Sammy,” Dean agrees, “That sounds awesome.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what? This fic has not been abandoned. I missed you guys :)

“Taste this, _cher_.”

“Mm…spicy. Is that for the-“

“For the Spanish mini-quiche.”

“I like it. No cilantro though?”

“Nah. I don’t really care for it. And you know what they say-“

“It’s our party, and we’ll cry if we want to?”

“Ha. Sure, sugar, let’s go with that.”

Charlie was determined that Dean and Benny’s pup shower be a surprise. The fact that Benny is cooking all the food for the party himself throws a little kink in those plans, so as a compromise he and Dean have been banished to _Baton Rouge’s_ kitchen while Charlie and Elizabeth decorate the front dining room for an early morning shower. The party starts at eight, so they’ll be having breakfast food and the restaurant will still be able to open at noon for a late lunch service. Lawrence is a small town, so Dean’s not too worried about scaring off business.

Dean’s having fun. He’s borrowed one of Benny’s chef jackets and is playing sous chef, following Benny’s directions to get the big platters of brunch themed _hors d’oeuvres_ ready for their guests. Benny’s cooking and it’s their party, so the menu is food they like to make in the morning when they’re home together, just in small bite form. There are little quiches with chorizo and spicy pepper compote, a whole tray of baked apples with bourbon and cinnamon, and waffle bites drizzled with caramel and sprinkled with sea salt. Mostly Dean’s just the go-fer, getting things out of the oven when timers go off and moving the small portions from their pans to pretty white trays Charlie picked out, but it’s nice to be in the kitchen with his mate.

Benny keeps tapping him on the shoulder when he’s trying to move a delicate quiche, or drizzle caramel the right way. Sometime’s his mate has something for him to taste and approve, but sometimes all Benny wants is a kiss, and it’s making Dean feel giddy. Every now and then they hear Charlie or Liz giggle from the front room, and it only adds to the effervescent feeling of the day.

“I wonder what kinda loot we’re gonna get,” Dean muses once they’re pretty much down to washing dishes. He yelps when Benny swats him from behind.

“Hush, you’re terrible,” Benny scolds despite his grin. They’re both excited for the party and to celebrate Madeline’s impending arrival with all their friends. “Speakin’ of which, we brought Lizzie’s gift, yeah?”

“Sure did,” Dean says, up to his elbows in suds, “I stashed it in Charlie’s car when we first got here. She’s gonna sneak it in with the other gifts for us.”

Dean and Benny’s conspiring is interrupted by a soft rapping on the dining room door. They turn to find Zeke slipping through the door with a smile.

“I’ve been told to summon you,” he announces, looking harried but pleased, “Everyone’s here.”

“How’s the gift pile lookin’, Zeke?” Dean asks, dodging Benny’s exasperated swat at the back of his head.

“It’s very impressive,” Zeke confides, coming in to pick up a ready tray of snacks, “I think you may have gotten that stroller Benny’s been talking about. It’s not very subtly wrapped.”

“Nice.” Benny accepts Dean’s fist bump with chagrin as they dry the soap suds from their hands and hang up their chef coats.

“Honestly,” he says, handing Dean the baked apples and grabbing the waffle bites. Zeke holds the door and the couple crosses from the kitchen into the dining room and the enthusiastic welcome of their guests.

The whole restaurant is done up in buttery yellows with splashes of pink and orange. There’s a big vase of zinnias on the buffet table and a patchwork banner hangs across the ceiling that reads “Welcome Madeline!”. Dean only sees a glimpse of an overflowing gift table before he and Benny are surrounded by the sights and sounds of their friends and family, all there bright and early to offer their congratulations.  

“Wow,” is all Dean can say in response to the outpouring of affection, and he feels a nudge at his side only to turn into a sweet kiss from Benny, his mate clearly just as happy and overwhelmed as he is.

There’s a round of hearty cheering, and Charlie and Elizabeth step forward to relieve Dean and Benny of their trays, making room for what would be the first of the dozens of hugs they’d be receiving that day.

Jody and Donna are the first, and then their daughter Alex, who looks more cheerful than any of Jody’s pictures would have led Dean to believe. Baby Max is sound asleep in his infant carrier despite the hubbub in the small dining room.

Victor and Cas are both there, along with Jo, Gabe and Kali from the station.

“We even brought a real gift this time,” Gabriel informs Dean before kissing him theatrically on both cheeks, “We heard there was going to be food.”

Dean rolls his eyes before introducing Gabriel and his mate to Benny, who in turn was quick to point them both to the buffet table good-naturedly. Ash and Kevin both offer their good wishes before a small tow-headed missile hits him somewhere around the knees.

“Uncle Dean!”

Despite Henry’s sneak attack hug Dean manages to keep his balance while Benny hugs Sam and kisses Jess on the cheek.

“Hey, little man,” Dean responds, ruffling his nephew’s hair, “Glad you could make it.”

“Dad says you guys are gonna get your pup,” Henry reveals, “That’s awesome.”

“It sure is,” Dean agrees, kneeling to give Henry a proper hug, “You’ve got the whole story, huh bud?”

“Sam and I explained the whole adoption thing to him-“

Jess pauses when Henry jerks away from Dean. Dean opens his mouth to ask what’s wrong but shuts it just as quickly when Henry presses his hand against Dean’s obviously not pregnant stomach, looking confused. Henry does the same to a bemused Benny, reaching up to poke at his relatively flat belly before looking between Dean and his parents, scandalized.

“Where is she?” He demands to know.

“-And apparently that talk was not as successful as we thought,” Sam concludes, flushing as his son’s innocent faux pas, “Sorry guys.”

Dean’s gotta laugh at that. “No big deal, little brother,” he says before picking up his nephew, “C’mon Henry, I’ll give you the lowdown.”

Elizabeth is holding court from a lime green corduroy armchair that Charlie must have brought from home, her feet resting comfortably on a matching ottoman. She smiles as Dean approaches with Henry, resting a hand on her sizable belly.

“Looking good, Lizzie,” Dean greets her, bending to kiss his niece’s cheek and deposit Henry back to the ground.  

“Thanks Dean,” she says, reaching out to ruffle Henry’s hair, “Hiya, cousin.”

“Hi Liz,” Henry replies with wide eyes fixed on Elizabeth’s growing bump, “Is this her?”

“Yup,” Dean answers, guiding Henry to place his hand on Elizabeth’s stomach with the Omega’s nodded permission, “Your Uncle Benny and me, we don’t really have the right equipment to carry a pup, so Elizabeth is hanging on to her for us ‘til Madeline is ready to be born.”

Henry pats Elizabeth’s stomach for a minute before pulling his hand back with a yelp.

“She kicked me!” he exclaims.

“That’s how she says hi,” Elizabeth explains, rubbing her belly with a good-natured grimace.

“She’s excited to meet her cousin,” Dean tells Henry, who ducks his head into Dean’s neck, shy.

“When she gonna be here?” Henry asks quietly.

“Soon,” Dean says, “Maybe even in time for Thanksgiving.”

Henry nods solemnly. “I’ll be sure to make her a place tag. We got turkey stickers for this year.”

“You doing okay, Lizzie?” Dean asks as Henry scampers back to Sam and Jess, “How about a refill?”

“Actually I wouldn’t mind a little of that punch,” Elizabeth says, holding up her empty smoothie bottle, “Charlie says there’s no alcohol in it, so I can sip.”

“You got it.” Dean takes Elizabeth’s cup, stepping out of the way so Donna and baby Max can visit with his niece, and heads for the punchbowl. Jody is already there, getting drinks for the entirety of the Mills/Hanscum party. Dean returns her friendly nod, grabbing himself a quiche as he waits for his turn with the ladle.

“So I’m gonna be on the advisory board for a new clinical study at KU,” Jody mentions as she carefully fills her row of cups.

“Uh, cool, I guess. Right?” Dean responds absently, his attention temporarily focused across the room. Benny was chatting with a newly arrived blonde guy Dean didn’t recognize. Based on the deep cut of his v-neck, it could only be Balthazar, _Baton Rouge’_ s number one sous chef candidate.

“Usually it’s about as exciting as watching paint dry,” Jody says, passing Dean the ladle, “But this one I’m actually interested in, and you should be too.”

“What’s it about?” Dean asks, dragging his focus back to the doctor. Jody wasn’t one to ramble. If she wanted Dean to know about some medical study at the nearby college it was for a good reason.

“I don’t have all the info yet,” Jody continues, “But apparently there’s a grad student who thinks they’ve found a test to physically verify a True Mating.”

That definitely has Dean’s attention.

“You mean…”

“Assuming it makes it past the clinical trials,” Jody says with a nod, “It would mean black and white proof that same designation pairs can be True Mates.”

“Benny and I could get Certified,” Dean realizes.

“It would _revolutionize_ the whole process,” Jody continues, “I’ve seen a few preliminaries and it’s as easy as a paternity test. There’s a long way to go yet, but I’m optimistic.”

“Well, you guys need any volunteers, you call us up,” Dean tells the doctor, “Benny and me are gonna be real busy in a few months, but we’ll make time.”

“I thought you might be interested,” Jody says, “I’ll make sure you’re email ends up on the right list.”

“Thanks,” Dean replies, toasting Jody before delivering Elizabeth her punch. With his niece well situated Dean heads for his mate, eager to share Jody’s news and meet their new potential sous chef. On his way he bumps into Cas, hair mussed and looking distracted as Dean’s ever seen him.

“Apologies,” his friend mutters, looking past Dean to the snack table, “I was following my nose instead of my eyes. Did you just put out some new food? It smells…incredible.”

“Huh,” Dean says, confused. He doesn’t smell anything unusual in the mix of Alpha, Omega and food scents that fill the busy room. In fact he can’t really make out Cas’ usual roasted hazelnut/fresh cut grass aroma at all, and he’s standing right next to the guy. “I guess Zeke or Charlie must have refilled a tray or something.”

“It smells delicious,” Castiel murmurs, actually licking his lips, “Give Benny my compliments.”

“Uh, sure, buddy,” Dean agrees as Castiel continues on his mission to the buffet table. Weird.

Dean is distracted from Cas’ strange mood when Benny catches his eye and waves him over.

“Hey, you,” Dean declares, giving Benny a quick peck, “Remind me, I’ve got something to tell you from Jody later.”

“Sure thing,” Benny agrees, curious but not wanting to be rude to the chef politely waiting to be introduced, “ _Cher_ , this is Balthazar, who I told you about the other day.”

“And you must be Dean,” Balthazar guesses, “Pleasure. If Benny’s talked as much about me as he has to me about you then you must already be an expert on my history.”

“The accent is a surprise,” Dean admits, “English, right?”

“Yes, but don’t worry, I only cook French,” Balthazar assures him, “I can keep up with Mr. Cajun here despite my chilly Anglo origins.”

“I feel like there’s an opening for a Gordon Ramsay joke here,” Dean says, grinning as he shakes hands with the blonde British Alpha.

“Trust me,” Balthazar replies, voice dry, “I’ve heard them all.”

“So what brings you in?” Dean asks.

“Benjamin here told me I should stop in to take care of some paperwork,” Balthazar explains, waving a small stack of what looks like insurance forms, “Though it seems I managed to choose exactly the wrong moment.”

“I told him not to worry about it,” Benny says before Dean can reassure him, “It isn’t the first party he’s crashed.”

“Nor the last,” Balthazar agrees, chuckling, “Though I’ll admit it’s my first baby shower. I would have brought a gift if I’d known.”

“I think your skills are the only gift we need right now,” Dean jokes, “Benny says you’re looking to get out of the Chicago scene?”

“Truthfully I think I’m getting too old for it,” Balthazar admits, “There comes a point when you realize you’re not doing anything but standing in the way of the new talent. I’d rather be somewhere quiet where I can do some actual cooking and leave the rat race to the young people.”

“We get our share of action here around dinner time,” Benny tells him amicably. Dean can tell Benny is fond of his old classmate. Time and hard work in the high stress restaurant business seems to have settled Balthazar down from the arrogant party boy Benny had told him about.

“I’m sure I’ll have plenty to keep me busy,” Balthazar agrees, holding up his papers, “Anyways, I’ll just leave these on your desk, chef, and be on my way, though if you don’t mind I may stop to sample your buffet table. Something over there smells _fantastic_.”

“Knock yourself out,” Benny invites him, “We’re gonna have too many leftovers as it is.”

Dean feels a tingling of intuition as the chef makes for the office, reappearing almost instantly to join the small crowd around the plates of baked apples and tiny quiches, where Castiel still happens to be hesitantly filling a plate. Dean sees the moment Cas’ head snaps up and he scents the air in a totally failed attempt at subtlety. Balthazar is a lot quicker on the uptake, studying the Omega lawyer curiously as he pretends to be interested in the spread.

“What do you think of him?”

“Hm?” Dean shakes himself out of his yenta musings.

“Balthazar,” Benny asks him, “He’s a lot more settled since I last knew him, don’t you think?”

“From what you’ve told me,” Dean agrees, “You say he’s a good chef, and it looks like he wants out of the spotlight. I think Balthazar might find Kansas is a really good fit.”

Benny watches him with a knowing look.

“Is that so?”

Dean watches Balthazar and Castiel eye each other across the snack table for a moment more before shrugging, letting it lie for now.

“Just a hunch,” he tells his mate, “We’ll see how it plays out.”

“Alright, _cher_ ,” Benny agrees, kissing Dean’s mating mark, “Let’s go scope out the gift table.”

Dean grins.

“Hell yeah.”

* * *

 

They _did_ get that stroller Dean had had his eye on, thank you Charlie Bradbury. There’s also an obnoxiously car-seat shaped package wrapped in daisy paper marked from Sam and Jess. Dean laughs at that one. He can totally see his brother and sister-in-law spending a good hour to wrap each section of the seat just to yank his chain. Even the handle and seat buckles are individually wrapped with the bright flowery paper.

The cutest package is probably from Henry, a simple egg carton decorated with stickers that when Dean peeks (while Benny keeps watch) reveals a rolled up pair of pup socks in each compartment.

“Hey! Nosy Nellie!”

Dean grimaces. Busted. He turns innocently to see Charlie beside a sheepish Benny.

“Some help you are,” Dean gripes to his mate, who raises his hands in surrender.

“Hey, only one of us here is knee deep in the gift table, mister,” Charlie scolds him, though she’s got a grin to go with her stern tone of voice.

“Caught red handed, _cher,_ ” Benny drawls, shaking his head and clucking his tongue as though this hadn’t been his idea in the first place. Dean wades out of the overflowing presents, wrapping his arm around Benny’s waist and giving his mating mark a sharp nip, not so subtly telling his mate _I’ll get you for that later_. Benny, unsurprisingly, doesn’t seem too worried.

“Alright, Your Majesty,” Dean replies to Charlie at last, appropriately chastised, “What’s my penance for trespassing?”

Charlie smiles wider, and holds up Elizabeth’s empty bottle.

“The Lady of the Corduroy Throne requests a refill,” Charlie declares, handing Dean the bottle like the Holy Grail, “Smoothie this time, please and thank you.”

Dean sighs good naturedly and heads for the kitchen with a comforting butt pat from Benny.

When he pushes through the kitchen door, Dean finds Zeke already behind the counter, pulling out the blender.

“I see you’re way ahead of me,” Dean says, handing Zeke Elizabeth’s empty bottle.

“I saw she was getting low,” Zeke shrugs, “I can run it back to her when it’s done, if you want to start the gifts.”

“It can wait a few minutes,” Dean says, leaning against the counter, “Thanks though.”

Zeke shrugs again. “Elizabeth is my friend,” he says softly, “It’s no trouble.”

Dean lets the whir of the blender fill the silence that follows, watching the unassuming Omega sous chef prepare Lizzie’s number one pregnancy craving. Now that Dean can get a look at the guy without a room full of partygoers, or the smoke and bustle of a dinner rush, it’s easy to see the circles growing under Zeke’s eyes.

Zeke isn’t a small guy. He’s almost as tall as Dean, though he carries himself smaller, without Dean’s admittedly pronounced Alpha swagger. Boxy chef coats hide a built frame far from the slight male Omega magazine ideal. But “dressed up” for the shower in a long sleeved t-shirt, Dean can tell that Zeke’s lost some weight in the last couple of months.    

The last minute covers and double shifts are starting to take their toll. Dean makes a mental note to encourage Benny to get Balthazar and Hannah on the schedule ASAP.

“Dean?”

“Hm?”

Dean jumps, realizing he’s been staring into space over Zeke’s left shoulder for the last minute or so.

“Sorry,” he grimaces, wiping his face, “I guess I’m just a little tired. You look like you could use a few Z’s yourself.”

“It’s nothing,” Zeke insists, twisting the lid back on Elizabeth’s bottle, “There’s a lot of work to be done getting ready for a pup. I’ve just been helping out where I can.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve really been going above and beyond, Zeke,” Dean says, clapping Zeke on the shoulder, “I know it’s taken a load off Benny’s mind. So thank you.”

“Gadreel,” Zeke corrects him quietly. Dean is confused. The sous chef clears his throat, nervous but determined.

“My name is Gadreel,” he clarifies, “And I’m happy to help you both. Not so many Alphas would be so kind to someone in my situation, or Elizabeth’s. She will never have to live like I have, because of you.”

Dean’s not sure how to respond to that.

“I mean…we would have done the same for anybody,” he says weakly.

“I know. I’m… grateful.”

Gadreel gives one of his half smiles, and Dean is momentarily reminded of Cas, whose dry humor over his archaic family fades to sadness when no one is looking.

“You don’t owe us a thing,” Dean assures him, “We’re lucky to have you, man. We’re hoping you can stick around.”

Gadreel smiles and turns to the sink.

“I plan to,” he tells Dean, and goes to rinse out the blender as if their conversation had never happened.

* * *

 

“Benny, this is too much,” Elizabeth cries, tears in her eyes as she hugs her uncle fiercely. On the table lay her shower gift from Dean and Benny: a set of Korin chef knives. The Japanese steel shines against the velvet black of the protective case they had picked out at a restaurant specialty store in Kansas City. Most of the gifts brought to the shower had been for the soon-to-be Alpha parents, practical necessities for when Madeline arrived. But Dean and Benny had chosen one gift for Elizabeth. It was a gift of thanks, from two parents to the carrier of their future pup, but also a gift of love and pride from Benny to his niece, his kin both in blood and in craft. Five handcrafted blades, they were tools Elizabeth would use every day for the rest of her career, and Benny had chosen the very best.

“You didn’t have to do this for me,” Elizabeth insists.

“Don’t be silly. I had that set picked out eight months ago,” Benny chuckles, holding Elizabeth close.

“Yeah,” Dean pipes up, “We went straight to the kitchen shop after you got your acceptance letter.”

“You’ve got a bright future ahead of you, darlin’,” Benny says, kissing the top of Elizabeth’s head, “A world class chef’s gotta have world class tools.”

There’s a healthy murmur of “hear hear!” and a few cheers from the room at that, which turn to “aw’s” when Elizabeth pulls Dean in for a hug as well.

“I picked out the case,” Dean adds, proud of his selection of black and gold stripes for his feisty Omega niece.

“It’s perfect,” Elizabeth sniffles against his shoulder, “You guys are too good to me.”

“We love you, Lizzie,” Dean says, and Benny’s arms tightening around them both echoes the sentiment, “You’re family.”

Dean realizes just how true it is, holding onto his niece and his mate amid the cheers and soft conversation of their family and friends. Benny, Liz, and his unborn pup, all safe within the circle of his arms.

It just didn’t get any better than this.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! This is a shorty, but I thought it should be separate from the previous chapter. It takes place maybe a day or so later.

_D: So how are things going with Balthazar??_

_C:I don’t know what you’re talking about._

_D:Suuuuurrrreeeee ;) Speakin of which B wants to meet with the two of you tmrrow morning for paperwork? Y or N?_

_C: I won’t be able to make it tomorrow._

_D: Why? Are you all ‘tied’ up? X’D_

_C:…_

_C:…_

_C:…_

_D:Cas?_

_D: Benny wants to know if you can do weds instead._

_C:…_

_C:…we’ll be there._

_D:!!!_

_D: I knew it!_

C:…

C:…

C: ;)

* * *

 

“What’s the verdict?” Benny asks as Dean climbs into bed, phone in hand.

“You owe me ten bucks and a blowjob,” Dean informs his mate. Benny doesn’t even look up from his cook book.

“What a hardship,” he drawls, flipping a page, “Tell Cas I said congrats.”

Dean pumps his fist in victory. “Will do.”


End file.
